The Great Jewel Hunt
by The Vampire's Liaison
Summary: AR Inukag. A young priestess is asked to journey far from home and destroy the dangerous shikon jewel. With the help of the loyal friends she meets on the way, will she be able to save everything she loves? Will she find the greatest love of all?
1. Half Puppy Love

I came up with this at random one night, very late. The moment I finfished I knew it was going to be more than an odd little one shot, like I had originally planned. I didn't post it till I had finished the next chapter, which I now have, so here it is, my newest story. The title may change later on, but for now, it will be known as _The Great Jewel Hunt_

Oh yeah, I just rememberes. I do not own Inuyasha or Kagome or any of the other people who you will recognize and go "Hey, she stole him/her from Inuyasha." Thay all belong to Rumiko Takahashi, whose brain I want to steal and replace with my own. Hers is cooler.

**The Great Jewel Hunt. **

**Chapter 1: Half Puppy love**

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It couldn't be far. She knew it hadn't been _that_ long since she'd left the village. How far could she have gotten?

Far enough to bee completely and utterly lost.

And unarmed.

Mot good.

Hard as she tried to fight it, panic began to rise in her chest, tightening against her heart. She was lost, alone, didn't have a clue where she was, alone, unarmed, and, worst of all, alone. This was not good. Very not good.

A ten year old girl began breathing very fast, completely unsure of what to do. If she kept wandering the way she was, she'd never find her way back to the village. Then again, if she just stayed and waited for someone to find her, most likely what found her would be a demon. She had heard of evil demons before, enough to know that some of them liked to eat little girls like her…or worse, though that wasn't just a demon thing.

That was when she heard it. It wasn't much, but it was enough to send that panic up to her throat, where it tightened and quickened her breathing.

The snap of a twig. That was all it took to send her fear skyrocketing. The simple snap of a twig. Behind her. Close.

What to do, what to do. She didn't want the…whatever it was to know she was afraid. That was a recipe for death. Bravely as she could, she stood straighter and cleared her throat.

"Sh…show yourself!" she squeaked. Oh, yeah, that'd frighten the whatever it was away. It was probably running scared after that declaration. Sure it was. She mentally berated herself. She was terrified, and now the damned thing knew it.

Maybe she could run, but where? Most likely she'd end up deeper in the woods and the thing would find her a few minutes later. It was hopeless. She was hopeless. It was going to kill her right there, and she couldn't do a damn thing about it. So much for the 'powers of a priestess' she was supposed to have. Maybe the power to taste yucky.

With that last defeated thought, she sank to the ground beside a tree. And started to cry.

The bushes near the snapping twig rustled. Oh no. she let out another strangled sob.

But the voice that spoke next didn't sound so scary.

"D…d…don't cry," it said. That didn't sound like a demon, or a bad man. It sounded like…like a kid. Like a boy, actually. The little priestess' head shot up to look at her audience.

Well, he certainly looked like a boy. Almost. Something wasn't quite right about him. His hair, for one, was long and white. And his eyes. There wasn't anything really wrong with them, they were just a strange color. Gold, or maybe amber. No boy_ she_ knew had eyes that color. Then there were those ears. They were triangular, shaped like the ears of the dog, and nestled right at the top of his head a couple of inches apart. Now _those_ were really cute ears! Aside form those oddities, he looked like any other boy. Maybe her age or within a year or so of it, and wearing a confused and uncomfortable expression.

"What did you say?" she asked him, her fear evaporating at the completely unthreatening look of him. If these were demons, maybe she'd bring them home and play with them, cause she rather liked the look no this one.

"I said not to cry. Please." He added as an after thought, maybe thinking it would help. She hardly noticed.

"Are you a demon?" the girl asked the boy. "You aren't a human, certainly." She gestured curiously to his ears, which twitched self consciously as he reached up to cover one with a hand.

"I'm, um, half," he said shyly, no longer seeming able to meet her eyes.

"Half?" she inquired again, wanting him to clarify.

"Yeah, half. Half a demon, half a human. Half."

"Oh," she said, nodding, though she didn't really get it. How could a person be half a demon?

It was quiet for a moment as the boy gathered the courage to speak. "Why were you crying, girl?" he managed to ask.

"I was not!" she answered defensively.

"Yes, you were," he insisted.

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!" she said loudly, waiting for him to dispute her lie again, (She was kind of enjoying the little debate) but he didn't. He was acting weird. His ears were pricked straight up, and he was looking over into the trees off to the right. The look on his face made her nervous. He looked uneasy, though not like he had talking to her. He looked scared.

"What's wrong?" she demanded immediately, her own fear rising up again to take her. The boy just shook his head slightly, still staring intently off to the side, watching very carefully for something. Or was he listening? His ear twitched slightly, and she didn't see anything, so that must have been it. He was listening to something, but what, she wondered.

She didn't have to wonder long. A moment later, the thing came out to see her, and she really wished it hadn't.

It looked like a lizard, except bigger. A lot bigger. It crawled creepily across the ground towards the two children.

"Food," it stated dumbly. "Children. Eat them!"

Nope. Definitely not a lizard. No lizard she had ever seen could talk, even to say simple things like food, children, eat. Wait. Food? Children? Eat? Was it talking about them!

Then she knew what it is. It was a demon. And not a nice one like the scared looking boy. A mean one. One that wanted to eat them.

The boy looked at down at her on the ground where she sat, a frightened look in his eyes. For second she wondered if he would run and hope it wasn't fast enough to follow and that its appetite would be sated by her. The thing _was_ looking at her anyway. It slowly crept toward her.

Until the boy got in it's way. He just took two big steps until he was standing firmly between her and the monstrous lizard-looking demon thing. He was defending her. He was protecting her. Well, he was going to try. That thing was awfully big though. For the umpteenth time since she'd realized she was lost, she wished she had her bow with her.

The boy stood in a fighting stance, a foot away from her. She stood immediately, but didn't move. He hadn't run and left her, there was no way she was going to just leave him either.

"Move. Eat girl. Filty half-breed. Taste terrible. Just kill, no eat," said the monster.

Then the demon slithered closer, amazingly fast, till it was just a foot from the boy. He flinched slightly as it approached, but he didn't run. He was breathing fast. He was scared of the thing. She could relate. Her expression was torn between fear of the demon, and worry for her defender, as well as herself.

"Kill him. Eat her," the demon instructed itself, as though afraid it'd forget its plan.

Then it struck. The monster lunged at her, trying to knock the little half-demon out of its way. He wouldn't budge.

The boy struck back at the demon with his own claws, and incredible surprising strength, sending the beast flying into a tree.

The thing squawked loudly as it struck the trunk, and the boy looked heartened, although the fear was far from gone. In a second it was back on him, whipping its head back and forth, its wide jaws open and it's fangs clearly exposed, hoping to catch the boy , despite his attempts to dodge.

It worked. The demon's fangs caught the boy's midsection, raking across his stomach. He cried out in pain, clutching at the wound, but he didn't fall. He seemed unwilling to leave the girl behind him unprotected.

Said girl felt a pang of guilt. He protected her, and now he was hurt. She could see the blood spilling on the ground. It was all over his clothes too, which mirrored her own almost exactly. The white kimono he was wearing was covered in it, from the glimpse she got. She was sure had drenched his hakama as well, but they were too red for her to be able to tell. That thing was going to kill him if she couldn't do something to help soon. She looked around for anything she could use to help. Wishing a bow and arrow would just fall out of the sky.

Well, she was half right. A bow clattered to the ground in front of her. That was really odd. But she didn't give a dman at the moment. She grabbed it up and gripped it before realizing that, firstly, her aim sucked as it was and she was still learning, and secondly, that her first point didn't matter because she had no arrow.

The monster lunged again, it's jaws snapping and the bleeding boy, as he barely got out of the way in time. It's next jerk caught his arm with one fang, and she saw more blood hit the ground, though he didn't cry out.

Screw arrows. Anything would do. Anything to help. She spotted a stick. A very straight stick. That'd work.

She cocked the stick, aimed, and fired. Despite not being a proper arrow, the stick glowed with her priestess powers just like an arrow wood, and struck the nasty lizard demon right on the nose.

The thing reared in pain and began shaking its head erraticly, no longer aiming for the boy, just trying to loosen the stick that burned so much. It was enough for the half-demon boy. He slashed down his claws, catching the demon at the neck…

And knocking its head clean off.

Eww.

The boy jumped back in surprise, as the body collapsed, twitching, and the head continued to snap weakly. Again, eww.

The poor kid looked at his claws, which were more like long nails, and then at her, fear again in his eyes, as though expecting her to react.

She did.

She threw her arms around him.

Now that was a new one.

"I…killed it," he said lamely, unable to think of anything to say besides the obvious.

"I know," she said. "Thank you so much for protecting me. And look you got injured. Does it hurt?"

"It's ok," he answered quickly, backing away the second she released her fear induced death grip on him.

That would be a yes.

"Well, come here and let me see. I know a little about medicine. I _am_ a priestess, after all," she added, puffing her chest proudly. "I can help."

He didn't move, just regarded her with timid confusion. Almost like he was afraid of her. Then again, she had just hugged him. Maybe he didn't like it.

"I'm not going to…hurt you or anything."

"Keh," he said, although he did move a little closer, though not within reaching distance.

"And I swear I wont hug you again. Not if you don't like it?"

"Keh," he repeated dismissively, this time coming close enough for her to touch and sitting down in front of her.

Accepting this as permission to treat him as best she could, she undid the ties on his kimono slowly and gently, as he blushed furiously but made no move to stop her.

Seeing the severity of the wounds, she sucked in her breath. She could help with scratches, head aches, maybe a bee sting or too, but nothing like this. Three long gouges marred the pale skin of the boys abdomen, deep and angry looking. She gasped at the sight of the wounds, along with the long cut down his arm, pressing her hand to his stomach injuries gently.

Apparently not gently enough, though. The boy jerked back at her touch, wincing badly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

Dumb question, but the boy just shrugged, glancing at the ground near his knee.

"These are bad. I don't really know enough to help much. We should go back to my village. The head priestess there could really—,"

"NO!" he cut her off, practically shouting, making a grab for his kimono before she snatched it way.

"ALRIGHT, alright, no village, I got it. Well, I can at least clean it up for you, but there isn't anything to wrap it up with.

"That's ok. It's no big deal. Never mind," he said, making another, lame grab for his kimono, which she hid behind her back.

"What do you mean it's no big deal. Of course it's a big deal! You're bleeding!"

He shrugged again, and she sighed, willing herself not to get angry at the boy who had just saved her life for no reason and nearly died doing it.

"Well, we at least need some water to clean it off. Do you know where we could get some?"

The boy sniffed the air for a moment, which she found rather odd. "That way," he said, pointing a little to her left.

"Ok, then we should go there. Are you ok to stand?"

He nodded, and made to get up. She reached down to help him before he had a chance to protest, which she got the distinct feeling he was planning to do.

"By the way, what is you name?" she asked, as they started to walk, him refusing to allow her to help.

"Why?" he asked suspiciously, giving her a look that made her really want to sigh. She suppressed it, and used the distraction to snake her arm through his own to help support his weight. He didn't seem to notice, or else her pretended not to.

"Well, dunderhead, you saved my life and now your half naked. Wouldn't hurt to be a little more familiar, would it?

At her words, he blushed brightly and looked away, making her grin. He was quiet for a minute, and she didn't think he was going to answer when he finally spoke.

"I'm Inuyasha," he said.

"Well, hi there, Inuyasha," she answered brightly.

"Hi," he replied, and the two fell silent for a couple of minutes.

Eventually, Inuyasha worked up the nerve to speak again. "What's yours?" he asled.

"What's my what?" she said confused.

"Your name" he supplied. "What's you name."

She giggled. "Oh of course, I didn't tell you yet. Stupid of me. My name is…"

"THERE YOU ARE!"

Both children jumped at the sound of the scream, and swung around. Two men were running towards them, panting, their faces flushed and hair falling astray from the high ponytails so common among men of the time. As they raced toward her, she felt Inuyasha stiffen by her side.

"We've been looking everywhere for you, little priestess!" the first man gasped as he reached her and skidded to a halt, the other man nearly crashing into his back comically. "You're mistress has been so worried for your safety. She was afraid you'd come across a demon and…"

The man froze spotting Inuyasha, and taking in his lack of shirt, the blood they were now both covered in, and, lastly, his ears.

As she watched comprehension dawn on his face, she knew this was not going to be good. She was right.

The still-panting man lunged at them suddenly…and pushed Inuyasha bodily to the ground. He fell on his backside looking confused and afraid.

"Demon, what have you done to her. You dare to touch a priestess, you filthy, worthless little half breed scum. We'll show you!" And with that, both men threw themselves at the injured child on the ground.

Utterly disgusted, she stepped in front of him, hand on her non-existent hips, and 'hmphed' loudly. Both men skidded to a halt once again to avoid hitting her, and fell on to the ground, one atop the other, at her feet.

"Ouch," whined the one one whom the other had landed.

She 'hmphed' again. "Serves you right," she said angrily, "For trying to hurt the only person who did anything to help me! And for you're information, he didn't touch me. He saved me from a demon but it hurt him and I was _trying _to help before you barged in her and tried to tackle us!"

The men exchanged somewhat sheepish glances as the rose to their respective feet, managing to detangle themselves on the fourth try.

"But, lady, that is a hanyou, a dirt-blooded, useless, waste of air, and you can not be consorting with the likes of him!"

"I'll consort with whoever I want to!" she insisted, turning her back on her 'rescuers' kneeling beside Inuyasha, her real savior, who was fixing her with a surprised and appraising gaze that made her blush. "Are you okay?" she asked him, the concerning flooding back into her voice in an instant.

If he answered she never heard it, as she was grabbed from behind by the village men and they began to half drag, half carry her back there.

"Sorry, lady, but we can't let you waste your time on something like it over there."

She turned to see Inuyasha hang his head at that comment, looking in no way about to defend his own honor.

"HE'S NOT AN IT, HE'S INUYASHA. AND YOU LET GO OF ME THIS MINUTE OR I SWEAR I'LL SCREAM!" she screamed.

'Sorry, lady," one answered, and it became clear that they would not be letting her go anytime soon. Instead, she turned her attention back to the little boy on the ground who was getting smaller and smaller as they dragged her away.

He was watching sadly her sadly from his position on the ground, looking very much like he would like to cry but refusing to let her see him at it. He could wait a few minutes until she was out of sight.

"KAGOME," she called back to him, and he raised his head completely. "MY NAME IS KAGOME. SEE YOU LATER, INUYASHA!" She waved at him best she could. He waved a hand and waved it back once.

"Goodbye, Kagome," he said under his breath, watching the closest thing he'd had to a friend in his entire ten year long life fade into the distance, kicking and smacking at her captors, but shooting him smiles whenever he caught her eye. Sadly, he leaned against the closest tree, no longer strong enough to pull himself to his feet, and allowed sleep to claim him, knowing he'd hurt less when he finally woke up, provided he wasn't eaten by some more demons. It wasn't important enough to him to think about. As Inuyasha drifted into unconscious, only one thought stayed in his mind. Kagome. He was asleep before the screaming began.

Not to far away, a ten year old priestess-in-training was pissed as hell for being pulled away from her injured rescuer. Not to mention being dragged about like a sack of potatoes. And was letting her captors know about it in the promised fashion, which had the added bonus of being the most annoying thing she could think to do. Screaming at the top of her lungs, as high pitched as she could go, mostly just to make noise, but occasionally including a curse word or two when they came to her. By the time she reached the village, and Kaede, her trainer and a much older priestess saw her, she was unbelievably hoarse. Still she managed to relay the story of her adventures to her kindly teacher, complete with a reenactment, in which she played all three parts, and an awful lot of jumping around before she was given dinner and sent to bed to rest.

As she fell asleep, the only thought in her mind was her rescuer, her hero, Inuyasha.

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A/N: Damned plot bunnies. This one jumped me at 3:30 in the morning, and now It's 5:03 and I'm exhausted. It really sucks that inspiration strikes only when I want to be asleep. Ah, well, its summer and I'm not going anywhere tomorrow. As for the story, I bet you all thought it was Kikyo for a minute there. Admit it! That's why I waited so long to tell her name. Wanted to annoy people I guess. This is to be chapter 1/ prologue of a larger story, and I will only put it up when I at least know what in hell the larger story, and AR it seems, is going to be, and have the real first chapter written, so if you are reading this there is another chapter for you to check out. PLEASE REVIEW! I will take anything people, flames and all. Ok, I've yawned twice in about a minute so I'm done for the night. Go on and click the arrow to see the next part. C'mon, you know you want to, even if it's just out of pure morbid curiosity. Ok, that's three yawns, and enough. Later!


	2. A Day in the Life of a Pure Hearted

Here it is. Chapter 2. This is sort of just setting the stage for the rest of the story, but you leanr a few important things in here, and its not that long, so, without further ado, here it is

And, of course, I own nothing. I get nothing. I have nothing, except a brain full of idead, and those are all mine. Rumiko Takahashi cant have them, any more than I can have Inuyasha. Its for the best, I suppose. God onlyknows what I'd do to him if he were mine. Mischeivous giggle. You get it.

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**The Great Jewel Hunt **

**Chapter 2: A Day in the Life of a Pure Hearted Priestess. (Well, more like a day and a half) **

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**7 years later…**

Kagome sighed, much more loudly than necessary.

"Where does it hurt this time, Murichi?" she asked the old man sittin on the bench before her. She knew him very well, as he was at the shrine at least once a week with a new ailment.

"It's the elbow again, lady," he said, pointing at the problem. Sighing again, Kagome reached for the offending limb.

"What kind of pain is it?" she asked him.

"Sort of sharp, but also kinda achy," he said. It had been the elbow three twice that month. Ever since Kagome, with the encouragement and assisitance of Kaede, the head priestess, had decided to treat anyone who came to the shrine with an illness completely fee of charge, they had been ablye to do the small village a world of good. However, the occasional hypochondriac was unavoidable, so Kagome had just learned to humor him. And she knew just how to do it.

"I have just the thing, Murichi. I'll be right back." Trying to hide her smile, Kagome turned and went back into her sleeping quarters and looked for the 'cure' for her frequent patient. She found it on her bedside table. It was a small pot of a scented cream that one of the village women had given her in return for helping with the birthing of her baby. It was homemade and smelled of the jasmine it was made of.

Grinning mischievously, she scooped up a small dollop of it into her hand, and returned to the examination room.

"Here you are, Murichi. This should do perfectly," she said, rubbing the perfumed salve gently onto the old man's elbow. "Does that feel any better?"

"Why, lady, you work miracles. It doesn't hurt at all anymore! Many thanks to you!"

"Your welcome, Murichi."

"A regular miracle worker, you are," continued the little man, getting off of the bench and scuttling towards the door that Kaede had just entered through. The older priestess exchanged an amused look with her young prodige before the little man spotted her as well.

"And look, lady Kaede is here as well. Thank you both so much. You two are a god send." With that, he scampered happily out the door.

"How long do ye think he will be gone this time?" Kaede asked. The part of her face not covered by the large eye patch she had worn as long as Kagome had known her was crinkled in a smile. The old women, though not as powerful as Kagome, was very skilled at healing as well as a very wise and patient teacher. Kagome felt lucky to have her there to train her in the art of being a priestess, as well as in healing.

Despite her unusually strong power and natural inclination towards her position, Kagome knew well that she lacked the experience and knowledge that the older priestess had been able to gain simply through the passage of time. That was why, together, they were the perfect team.

After a long day of treating patients in the makeshift clinic that also served as a series of meeting rooms at the shrine, then helping Kaede with the evening meal (and then eating it of course) Kagome was completely exhausted. Between her duties as a priestess and the power required to heal the more serious injuries, she often found herself drained by the end of a day. For this reason, she wasted no time falling onto her sleeping mat the moment she got to her room.

It had already been may hours since the setting of the sun, so she was well aware that it had to be well after midnight. She knew also that the next day would be filled to the bursting with people to help, the occasional demon to slay, and general work common to a priestess. Hum drum though it all was, she loved it. She loved being able to help. She loved having Kaede there with her. She loved being the village protector and guardian. Mostly, she just loved being a priestess, and feeling like she was needed and helpful, even if it was just for the tiny village she lived in.

These comfortimg thoughts swam around in her mind as she drifeted off to sleep. It wasn;t long before she was having a familiar dream, one that she had very often, that never varied in its detail. It was not really a dream, but a memory, and one that had remained with her since that fateful day 7 years before, when she had been but ten years old, and met a little demon boy.

She saw it like it was happening again. He was there standing before her, looking awkward, uncomfortable, and…something else. It had taken her a while till realize that there was fear in his golden eyes when he looked at her. She had learned later in life that it was the duty of a priestess to defend against evil demons. He hadn't been evil in the least, she would have sensed something like that, but apparently enough of the priestesses that he had met, even at that age, hadn't cared about evil. They had only cared that he had demon blood. She felt a rush of sympathy in her heart everytime she remembered the awful things the village men had said to the poor, bleeding child who had risked his own life to help someone who she now knew he had believed might kill him. He had feared her, yet he had helped her anyway. And another thing. He had not wanted her to cry. What reson could there have been for that? The only reason she could come up with, even when she contemplated it during her waking hours wa that he had cared about her, even though he did not know her. That didn't sound very evil to her.

She often dreamed of her hanyou friend. Despite the shortness of their ecounter, she still considered him a friend. Perhaps the only friend she would ever have. Not that the village didn't care for her, or lover her in a way. They did, but only as a priestess. Because of her training, she had never had the chance to really spend time with children her own age, and as such had missed the opportunity to have friends during her life. Not that she didn't lover her life, or feel as close as a daughter to Kaede, but she sometimes wondered how much she missed by not having friends that she could really just relax around, and feel safe with. As a priestess, she would never marry, never have a family. Even with her incredible gifts, that felt like an awful lot to give up.

In her waking state, unlike her dreams, the little half breed boy rarely entered her thoughts. At least not as far as she knew. In truth, it was tht one encounter that had changed the way she looked at demons forever. Knowing that not every non-human was evil made her more careful in differentiating between the evil demon that needed to be slain, and the normal one that was to be left alone. It has given her a compassion for the differences in things that was uncommon in her time, and that kept her heart free of prejudice, and therefore purer than that of any other person, priestess or no.

It was that purity of heart that, unbnounced to her, was at that very moment drawing to her a being that would forever change her world.

Kagome Yawned widly over her breakfast, in no mood to eat the chilled miso soup or rice that composed it. She was to tired to eat. Despite the fact that she had slept soundly from the moment that she collapsed ontoher bedding till the morning, she still had gotten precious few of the restful hours of unconciousness.

Grumbleing slightly under her breath about priestesses always insisting on rising with the sun she set about her daily chores for the shrine, getting water from the well, sweeping the steps, and washing the table, before finally heading into the village to purchase some basic supplies for the shrine.

The small marketplace was flaring with activity, even so early in the morning. Everywhere she looked people were shopping, haggling, or else just sitting and talking to each other. Children were running up and down the street and in and out of huts, playing games and chittering happily. It was all she needed to dispel any lingering grumpiness. Kagome didn't like being grumpy, and never could maintain such a mood for long.

She instead enjoyed the warm summer air as she shopped and watched the village children, giggleing at the obvious silliness of their games. She had always watched the children play, but had never really gotten to join them. When she was small it had upset her, but now as an adult (well being 17 was close enough) she could watch them without any real sadness and laugh with them and at the unhindered joy on their small faces.

Her shopping done, Kagome headed back up the dirt road to the shrine that was her home. She hadn't gone very far from the village when she spotted what appeared to be a small huddle of blankets on the side of the road. Approaching it slowly, she got a bit of a shock as the top of the pile turned towards her. Only then did she realize that the blankets had not found there way onto the road by themselves. They had apparently enlisted the help of an old woman, who sat on the ground, shivering despite the warmth in the air.

"Excuse me," Kagome said as she reached the tiny old woman. "Are you all right?"

"Why, Child, I am but a homeless begger passing through town with nowhere to go. Would you be ablye to spare a bit of change for a downtrodden and hungry old woman?"

Kagome felt a pang of guilt. She had no money left after her shopping, but she pitied the poor woman, whose guant face was lined with years of hardship and pain.

"I'm sorry, old woman, but I don't have any money left."

"I thought not," the woman replied, resting her chin on her palm in a slight huff. Somehow, suddenly she didn't seem so olsd and frial as she had a moment before. Chiding herself for her stupidity, Kagome reminded herself that the woman's plight had not changed in the least. She simply must have been used to being turned down.

"You know, lady, I am a priestess at a shrine just up the road. Though I don't have any money, we do have a few spare rooms there and more than enough food to share. If you would just follow me, I'm sure the head priestesss there would be more than happy to accommodate anything you might need."

The woman's ancient head tilted up, her eyes suddenly alight. "You are a priestess?" she asked curiously, as though she feared her ears might have betrayed her. Kagome nodded. "And you are offering me shelter and food?" The girl nodded again. "In exchange for what?" the woman inquired, searching for the catch. There had to be a catch. She had only just noticed the resmebalence the girl took to…her. Her kindness coupled with her positon and appearance could only have one meaning,really, and she wasn't willing to be wrong about this.

"Catch?" asked Kagome, slightly confused. "There is no catch. I am only offering to help you. I need nothing in return for charity. Now, floowo me, unless you need help getting up?" she asked, concern flooding her sweet voice.

"No, dear, I'm all right now. Don't worry." With those words, he rose to her feet with surprising agility and grace for one who looked so shriveled.

"All right then," the girl said happily. "You are welcome to stay as long as you want. Oh, just one thing."

"Yes?" the woman asked, her curiosity spiking. There it was, the catch was…

"May I know your name?"

Woops. Not there. How odd.

"Only if I may know yours."

The girl smiled. "I am Kagome," she said, extending her small hand to the woman, who grasped it.

The girls auror was pure, blinding white. Completely pure, not a smudge to be seen, now that was interesting.

"You are pure of heart, Kagome," she said, releasing her shaken hand.

The girl, Kagome blushed brightly. "Oh, I'm sure that isn't true. And even if it were, it's not important."

"Ah, you are very wrong about that, my dear girl. It means a good deal more than you could even imagine. I do believe you will see that soon enough."

Kagome's blush deepened, though this time out of uneasiness. "Um, you never did tell me you name, lady," she said.

"I am called Midoriko," the woman replied.

"That's an interesting name," Kagome replied politely.

She had no idea.

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A/N: This was easier to write then I thought. The idea came pretty easily, and I am pleased to say that it is only 3:18 in the mrning and it is complete and ready to be uploaded. Yay. As always, Please review. I love to hear them! Anything you want to say is welcome.


	3. The Truth and The Choice

Ok, so I just posted the last chapters last night, but I had to get started on writing chap 3. Mind, this is just when I started. I'll have to finish either later tonight or tomorrow. Any way, here it is, chapter 3.

And, of course, I don't own any of this. Inuyasha and Kagome and everyone else you recognize belong to Rumiko Takahashi, not that this is news to anyone, but its still a bit depressing. Sigh. Oh well.

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**The Great Jewel Hunt**

**Chapter 3: The Priestess and the Spell Caster**

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Midoriko's eyes burned into Kagome's back for the duration of the walk back to the shrine, and Kagome felt very uneasy with being regarded so closely by one so unfamiliar. The old woman moved rather slowly, but with strength and grace that bellied her apparent years and gave Kagome the distinct impression that her unhurried pace was deliberate.

Kagome made sure to turn every so often and make sure that the woman was able to keep, despite the fact that they were already being passed by turtles. Each time she did so, she noticed the way the ancient woman swiftly averted her eyes, further proof that she had indeed been watching Kagome. Not very subtle proof either.

By the time they reached the shrine, the walk had taken twice as long as it usually would Kagome on her own. After relieving herself of her shopping, she finally addressed the woman for the first time since their original encounter.

"If you'll just follow me, I will take you to a room where you can rest until the evening meal has been prepared."

"And who will be doing that preparation," the woman inquired politely.

"Um, that would be me."

"Isn't such a thing the job for a servant to do?"

"Um, well," said Kagome, wondering what had ever given her the impression that the person who stood before her was in the least bit frail. "We don't have servants here. This is a shrine. Lady Kaede and I do all the cooking for ourselves."

"You cook well, do you?" Midoriko asked. Kagome was beginning to get the distinct impression that the woman had something rather specific up her sleeve.

"I wouldn't necessarily say that, but I can take care of myself."

"Do you fight as well?"

Okay, that was a random question.

"Why would you ask such a thing?" Kagome asked her curiously.

"I assume you use a bow and arrow, am I right?" continued Midoriko, completely ignoring the question as though she hadn't heard it.

"Actually, yes, how did you know that."

The woman made no answer. Instead, she just smiled to herself. She knew it. It was true. It had to be. The resemblance, the aura, and now the weapon of choice. The girl was doubtless the great priestess reborn, and just as certainly unaware of it. She had been waiting a hundred and forty nine years for this, with the time limit drawing ever closer, and she had simply stumbled upon it, now, in this tiny little village.

"Did you ever notice, Kagome, that, when you are searching for something, especially something important, it is always in the last place you look?" she asked, following Kagome through a winding corridor.

"Well, of course it is," the girls answered with a shrug, turning a sharp right, then a left almost immediately.

"How do you figure that?" Midoriko asked curiously.

"Simple. It's always in the last place you look because whenever you find it, you stop looking. I mean, who keeps looking for something they have already found. Where it is will always be the last place."

"And what if you never find it at all?"

"As long as its out there, you can find it, and if you don't then you just didn't look in the right place."

Midoriko smiled. "Is that your philosophy, Lady Kagome?"

"Yup," said Kagome certainly. "Well, it's one of them anyway. Here we are."

It was only then that Midoriko realized all their talk had brought them to a door, which she could only imagine led to the room she was meant to stay in.

"The washroom is just down the hall, that large door there," Kagome told her, pointing to an ornately decorated sliding door. "Dinner will be ready soon. I will be preparing it as soon as I tell Kaede you are here. Do you have any idea how long you will be staying, and it's ok if you don't. I just know she will be curious, but you are welcome as long as you want."

"I do not think I will be staying too long, Kagome. I do not imagine I will need to, not anymore, and there are places I must be going to now."

"Oh," said Kagome, sounding mildly confused. "It's just I had gotten the impression…you had said…never mind. It doesn't matter. One of us will come find you for dinner."

Midoriko nodded but didn't respond, nor did she stop staring at Kagome. There was an odd look on her face, a mixture of awe and determination, as though Kagome was a rather large steak that she was dead set on finishing no matter what. It was rather unsettling. The feeling of being watched stayed with Kagome until she was well out of sight, of the room, and indeed seemed to follow her the rest of the night.

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There was so much to do, and Midoriko knew that there was not a moment to waste. It would have to be tonight. The time limit was fast approaching. The girl would even now only have a year what those with much more experience and skill had been trying to accomplish for a hundred and forty nine years.

It was not so great a journey, but treacherous and uncertain, and the girl would be alone. Well, now that didn't have to be true. She could change that.

Midoriko smiled at herself. Now this was about to get interesting. It simply couldn't be left to chance. She was going to have to interfere. Midoriko rather enjoyed interfering

She knew what had to be done. She had to find someone, preferably someone the girl had met before, who would be able to accompany her on the journey.

She needed someone who would be able to protect her. They would have to be strong.

She needed someone that Kagome would be able to trust. They needed to be good-hearted and innocent on some level.

She needed someone who would be willing to put themselves in danger. They needed to care about her.

Lastly, she needed someone who would have no problem setting off on a long journey with the very real possibility of no return. They had to have nothing to lose.

This was going to take some thinking. Midoriko smiled happily. _This_ was going to take some _seeing_!

Seeing was a dangerous and uncertain art. Looking into ones own past or future was very unsafe. Looking into even the past of someone else was downright perilous. Midoriko loved to do it.

Without further ado, a smile on her wrinkled mask of a face that had served as her appearance for a few years now, (It was probably time for a change) Midoriko rummaged in her small pack, pulling out a few herbs, a vile of a nasty smelling crimson liquid, a sage sprig, flint, and a bottle of pre-spelled water. Now she just needed something to mix them in. Praising her luck, she noticed that the room Kagome had led her to was complete with a small washing basin, shallow, wide, and absolutely perfect for seeing.

Dumping the cool water inside unceremoniously on the floor, Midoriko the proceeded to pour in her own enchanted water, and then add the herbs. After that she lit a tiny bit of sage, allowing the smoke to swirl around the surface of the water, and then dropped it in. last, but not least, she added the most important ingredient. Making sure to keep her face far away, Midoriko dropped a single drop of the foul red liquid into the mixture. It began to seethe evilly, then the surface turned completely whit and settled. It was ready.

It took nearly an hour of seeing into the girls past before she found the perfect candidate. A hanyou child who Kagome had met once.

He had killed a demon, proving strength.

He had stayed her, he was trustworthy.

He had fought for her. He would protect her.

He was all alone. He would have nothing to lose.

Midoriko added another herb and the small figure of the half-demon child glowed blue. He was still alive. Surprising, and perfect. He would do very nicely. Now to lead Kagome to him. Perfect. He still lived very near, out in the woods of that very village. That could be done easily enough. One little disguise, a few tiny illusions. Easy enough.

Ending the spell with the wave of her hand and a single word, Midoriko sighed. She was not an unkind woman, and hated the idea of shoving such a responsibility off onto a young girl, and one as sweet as Kagome no less. She simply had no choice. If the girl was who and what she thought she was, and she was absolutely sure that Kagome was, then there was no one else who could do it.

She was startled out of her reverie by a knock at the door, and Kagome's voice announcing dinner. She needed to know soon. It would have to be that very night in fact.

There was no doubt about it. This was going to be an interesting night.

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Dinner was an unusually quiet affair that night. Kaede, never much of a talker herself, was always content to listen to Kagome, commenting every so often when she felt necessary, but with Midoriko staring at her the entire meal, never taking a single bite, as though she wished Kagome were the dinner instead of the chef had squashed any desire she had to talk.

Instead, Kagome shoveled food into her mouth just short of choking in the hopes of leaving the table in as fast as possible without being conspicuous. As such, the only sounds to be heard was the gentle click clacking of chopsticks, the occasional flop of the bits of fish that fell from between them in Kagome's rush, and chewing, which most people try not to listen to because it can make anything sound slimy.

"Mar I ber ecruse?" Kagome asked with a mouthful of rice as soon as her plate was clear.

"Yes, I suppose Kagome," answered Kaede, regarding the girl curiously.

"I would ask that you wait a moment Kagome," said Midoriko.

Damn, and she had been so close to escaping the most awkward meal of her life.

"Of course," Kagome answered in an attempt to keep the disappointment from her voice.

"I'm afraid I must tell you both something that you aren't going to like," she continued, again ignoring the fact that there had been any response at all.

"Oh?" asked Kaede curiously, "And what pray tell would that be."

Midoriko sighed loudly. "I think it might be best if you heard this from my true face. You may want to sit down, Kagome."

The girls stayed where she was a foot from her chair. "No thank you, I'm fine," she replied with suspicion in her voice.

The old woman, for that is the last time she could be called such, sighed again. "Very well, girl. Have it your way."

Standing up, she waved a hand over her face, bringing it to rest under her chin, and grabbing at the wrinkled folds at her neck, pulling upwards sharply. Kagome was about to be disgusted when she saw what happened. The wrinkled skin pulled away, as did the old face and grayed wispy hair that had been covered by the many blankets before than. Those too fell to the ground, and the ancient skin was no more, all that remained of it being a leaf that drifted slowly to the earth. Kagome recognized it immediately as illusion magic, the same used by some kinds of demons.

What stood before the two gaping priestesses was no demon.

Kagome pulled the chari toward her and fell sideways onto it, absolutely astonished.

There, in the old woman's place was a very beautiful young woman, looking barely older than Kagome herself, although her eyes were sparkling with knowledge. Her black her had an unearthly and incredible glow and hung past her waist, the ends tickling the tops of her thighs. Her clothing was as grand as any princess's and a bright emerald color with jewel's sewn in along the hems of the sleeves.

"Oh dear," said Kaede calmly, shaking her head. "It's you."

The woman smiled agreeably. "You know me?" she asked.

"You are Midoriko."

"Did…did I miss something?" Kagome choked, unable to stop staring at the apparition before.

"I am indeed Midoriko," the woman nodded.

"Yeah, I had that, but what are you?"

The woman smiled indulgently. I, dear, am a guardian. Actually, I'm the guardian. I exist to protect the world from the things that could harm it. I am here for you Kagome."

"I…I'm a danger to the world?" Kagome stuttered, completely aghast, but the woman simply laughed, a beautiful sound almost like music all on its own.

"Of course not. You are the one who is going to save it, if you choose to accept. Allow me to explain."

Kagome pulled the chair closer to the table and sat on it correctly, nodding.

"Just about 200 years ago, there was a great battle between demons and a single priestess, myself. In an attempt to purify a demon, I inadvertently forced out my own soul along with the souls of the demons attacking me. The result was a jewel, called the Shikon. This jewel had the power to increase the strength of any demon or human who had control over it. For about 50 years, the jewel passed from one cruel owner to the next, becoming more and more tainted as time progressed. Finally, it fell into the hands of a priestess called Kikyo, who was able, because of her soul, to purify the jewel of its evil. However, it was simply to great a task to defend against the demon constantly attacking it, so Kikyo decided the jewel had to be destroyed.are you with me so far?"

Kagome nodded numbly, and Midoriko looked somewhat relieved.

"Good. Now, a small part of my soul that had not been pushed out with the jewel was called upon and given flesh by the spells of several priestess and spell casters, in order to ask how such a thing could be destroyed. I told them that the only way to destroy it would be to purify it out of existence. Try as they might, no one could find a way to make it completely untainted, not even Kikyo. It was then that the most terrible demon of all attacked, by the name of Naraku."

"Naraku?" gasped Kagome. She had heard of such a demon, and was amazed to learn that he had been inexistence and destroying lives for so long without anyone managing to purify him.

"Yes, Naraku. The priestess, including Kikyo, and spell casters all fought and died, but they did manage to give the jewel to me before they did. I did the only thing I could, and sealed it away in a mountain called Hakurei. There the demon could not find or remove it, but there is a problem. The spell I used only lasts for one hundred and fifty years, and if it is not purified by then, it will be unprotected, and Naraku, who has waited all this time to get it, will finally achieve just that and the world will be at the mercy of the evil, soulless monster."

Kagome was horrified. Though she had never met the demon, she knew that the human race wouldn't last five minutes if he gained that sort of power. "That's terrible," she said, unable to come up with a more accurate expression for her horror.

"Yes, it is."

"But," Kagome gulped, "What can I do about it. I'm just a priestess."

"No dear, you are much more than that. It took a hundred and forty nine years for it to happen, but it has, and you are the reincarnation of the priestess Kikyo. I am absolutely sure of it. With an aura as white as your is, as white as hers was, you will be able to purify that jewel. If you cannot do it before the time limit is up, then Naraku will have it, and the world as you know it will be doomed."

"Um…wow," said the girl. It was all she could manage. "So no pressure than."

Midoriko smiled lightly. "I'm sorry to have to foist such a thing on one as young as you, but I have no choice. The fate of the world rests on your shoulders, and I know it must be very heavy."

Kagome nodded vaguely.

"It's not as bad as you think. All you really have to do is find the thing, and you will be able to sense it when you get closer to the mountain, and then purify it. Your heart will know how to do that when the time comes."

"And how do I find this Mount Hakurei," Kagome asked.

"Ah," said Midoriko biting her lip. "That is the hard part, I'm afraid. First you must go to Renji city, and there you will find the Keeper of the Garden. He will be able to tell you what you must do next. That is as far as I can direct you."

"And how long do I have to do this thingy?" the young priestess pushed.

"You must do it before the year is up, or all is lost."

"And I have to do this all by myself?"

"No, of course not. Along the way you will find four companions. I know that much. Two men, a woman, and a child. You needn't look for them. They will come to you, in one way or another, and they will indicate they have similar goals or no where to go. They will be alone and either in need of help, or helping you. None will have any place that they call home. You will need them all to complete this task…if you choose to accept it."

At that, a hope sparked in Kagome's chest. She didn't have to do it. She could decide. But wait, that seemed just a little too easy to her.

"What happens if I choose not to."

The woman sighed heavily and sat back down. "Then the world will be at Naraku's mercy in a years time. In a year, he will have the jewel, and in 13 months, we will most likely all be gone."

Kagome swallowed hard.

"Kaede, what do you think of all of this?" Kagome turned desperately to her mentor.

"I think," the old priestess responded turned to Midoriko, "that this is an abominable thing for ye to ask of a child, and that you should be ashamed for it!"

The woman nodded sadly, and Kaede turned to Kagome, suddenly softened.

"And I think that we all have a purpose, and if ye should choose to accept it, that this be yours. I can not tell ye what to decide, Kagome, but I can say this; Sometimes ye must do what is right, and not what is easy. Sometimes ye must give up small dream in order to honor a greater one. It is hard, but if ye do not do this, I fear ye will regret it the rest of your life, be it a year or a hundred years."

Kagome nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. "I understand Kaede."

"And know, child, then when this task is done, if ye should want it, there will always be a home for you here."

Smiling slightly, the girl nodded again, though her tears still flowed.

Kaede got up and moved over to Kagome, wrapping her in a warm hug. He large older woman had been the only family Kagome had had since her parents death when she was a child, and the though of leaving her was comforted only by the kind words she had given, and the hug she was giving now.

When they finally broke apart, Kaede wiped away her apprentices tears with one stubby thumb in a grandmotherly way, and the turned on Midoriko, her tiny height seeming suddenly much greater.

"And as for ye, if any harm should come to that girl in pursuit of this, I will take ye and string ye up myself. Ye will rue the day you laid eyes on her. Is that clear?"

Midoriko nodded, somewhat taken aback. Then she turned to Kagome.

"Have you made a decision?" she asked calmly.

Kagome laughed icily, standing up and crossing her arms.

"It looks like I'm going on a jewel hunt."

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I just want to apologize for the fact that there is so much Midoriko, and yet still no Inuyasha, at least not all grown up. I swear to you that that all changes next chapter and things really get kicked off. Coming at you next chapter (Which I may well put up with this one or very soon after) will be Kagome's departure (finally), a chase with not so real bandits, and, of course, everyone's favorite hanyou, so don't give up on me just yet. Oh, and, just so you know, I didn't keep you waiting this long to make you squirm. Well, at least that's not the only reason. malicious smile.

Just cause I cant say this enough, and no one seems to listen, REVIEW! I want you to review. I want to know what you think. C'mon, I'm a big girl, I can take it.


	4. An Illusion and a Rescue

This would be chapter 4. Please read and review. REVIEW! Anyway, I don't really have anything worth ranting about right now, so I'm just going to have to start writing. Oh, and Happy fourth of July. At least, that's when I'm writing this, though probably not when you are reading it.

Ok, I just finished, and I had an unbelievably good time writing this, so I hope you enjoy reading it. I've never had this much fun with a fic before, so I really hope that comes across. Happy reading! And since I can't seem to stress this enough, REVIEW!

I own nothing. It's really quite sad. Rumiko Takahashi has stuff. Jealous.

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**The Great Jewel Hunt**

**Chapter 4: An Illusion and A Rescue**

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Kagome was up before the sun on her last day at the shrine. Although she didn't plan on setting out for a few hours, she wanted to walk around her life long home for what she knew might be the last time, and take in every detail of it.

Kagome had to travel light, which was fine since she didn't own all that mush anyway. She packed a few changes of clothes, a couple of towel, provisions, some money that Kaede had give her, medical supplies, and a few other odds and ends she thought she might need.

No chores were done that morning. Midoriko and Kaede were both too nervous, and Kagome too busy to concentrate on something so mundane. Finally, three and a half hours after sunrise, it was time to go.

It was time to say goodbye.

When Kaede hugged her, Kagome seriously considered rethinking her trip. "Ye be careful, child, and send word every so often so I know that all is well with ye."

"I will," the girl agreed.

Midoriko patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you wont be alone for long. You're first companion should be around soon."

"Ok," said Kagome nodding, and turning toward the road before her resolve left her.

"I'll see you all soon enough," she said over her shoulder, and with that she headed down the road.

"So," said Midoriko awkwardly as she watched Kagome's retreating back, "Can I ask you something?"

"I suppose ye can," answered Kaede.

"Why is it that you are the only person around here who talks like that?"

"I don't know what ye are talking about."

"Sure."

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"Perfect. Just freaking perfect," grumbled the hanyou as he brushed the dirt off of his haori, having mussed it up being thrown to the ground by yet another demon. Despite the shortness of a battle, or how easy it was for him to destroy the demon, he still always seemed to end up on the ground, getting all dirty and bruised.

The remains of a small centipede demon (well, small for a centipede demon at least) were on the ground a few feet away. Inuyasha tried his best not to look at it. He had never been a squeamish person, but it was still not a very pleasant sight.

Sighing, he wandered far enough away that he could no long smell the blood of the thing he had killed, and sat heavily on a log, pulling back the sleeves of his haori and kimono and glaring at the long cut that the creature had left across his fore arm. He supposed he should wash it, even though it would be healed in a day or so anyway, and pulled himself up to look for water. Luckily there was a little stream running at the other end of the clearing that he had sat down in, so he didn't have to go more that a few paces. First thing he did was take a long drink from the stream, as he hadn't noticed before seeing it just how terribly thirsty the fight had made him.

After that it was time to clean himself up. Shrugging off the haori, he tossed it aside where it landed with the bloodied sleeve in the stream. "Perfect," he said again sarcastically. "Just bloody perfect." Every damn time I do anything something has to go wrong. Stupid things all wet now." Sighing for the thousandth time that week, he pulled the dampened garment from the water and threw it blindly on the ground behind him…

"Ummmph," said the ground, in a small and familiar voice. Inuyasha knew that voice all to well.

"What do you want now, Myoga?" the half-demon asked his flea demon vassal without turning around.

"Lord Inuyasha," the flea said, bowing low after he had extracted himself from the mounds of red cloth. Then, without further ado, he jumped on the boys injured arm and stuck his sharp little snout into the wound, drinking furiously at the blood that was still dripping from it.

"Ow, you little…" Inuyasha fumed, swatting at the flea. "Get the hell off of me!"

The flattened bug drifted weightlessly to the ground as his lord leaned forward and splashed some of the chilly stream water onto his wound, hissing slightly as it stung.

"What do you want now, flea?" growled Inuyasha, the pain in his arm putting him on edge.

"I came to see if you were all right, my Lord. As you humble servant I feared for you safety."

Inuyasha laughed bitterly at that. 'Yeah right, you were real worried about me. And I'm sure you seeking me out has nothing to do with that damned sword my father left me."

"Well, I must admit I was concerned about your inability to retrieve it."

"Of course you were. Well don't you worry your annoying little head, 'cause I'll get that sword no matter what it takes."

"Perhaps you ought ask…um…Lord Sesshomaru for…"

"I'm not asking anything of that demon. Not now, not ever."

Now that was going too far. Inuyasha desperately wanted the Tetsuseiga, the sword honed from the fang of the great dog demon and Lord of the western lands. After all, it was Inuyasha's only inheritance from his father, whom he had never even met, but he was NOT about to go crawling to his demon half brother for help. Not that it would do any good. Sesshomaru thought half demons were abominations, and felt it was a personal insult that one shared blood with him. He would no doubt slaughter Inuyasha on sight.

No one was quite sure why, but Inuyasha's father wanted something to happen to his son before he could get hold of the weapon. That was why he had sealed it in a stone shortly before his death. The particular rock, just outside Renji city, was nothing special by itself. It was the spell that the great dog demon had put it under that was important. Inuyasha was willing to do just about anything to get his hands on the legendary blade. The only problem was that his father hadn't told anyone, not even Myoga, what Inuyasha had to do or learn before he could have it.

Inuyasha had tried everything he could think of, but so far all he had managed to do to the sword was cut his hands on it half a dozen times trying to pry it free. When he was younger he had stayed by the stone and tried almost every day to pull it free. As he grew, however, he realized that whatever he heeded to happen wasn't going to if he just stayed put all of the time. When he was about ten he had started only visiting every so often, maybe once a month, the older he got, the less he attempted to retrieve the blade. By the time he was fourteen he had limited to once a year. Now, seventeen years old, he hadn't even bothered to go on his yearly excursion to the sword in the stone, and he was sure it was that which had brought Myoga all the way there to irritate him.

Not that he should be complaining, as Myoga was really the only living thing that ever gave him the time of day without either trying to kill him or running away screaming. He got the occasional 'grab your torches and pitchforks' treatment too, but that was it. He knew it was all he could expect, being a half breed as he was, but it still managed to annoy him to no end. And then to have the only person in the world who ever came to talk to you be there just to nag…

And sure enough…

"Lord Inuyasha, there are things we must discuss."

"Of course there are," grumbled the hanyou, rolling his kimono sleeve carefully back down over the now clean cut on his arm.

"I am aware that you have not yet attempted to draw your sword this year Inuyasha..."

"You heard right, you little runt."

"…and that concerns me. It is your rightful inheritance, but if you do not loose it from that stone soon, I fear that some other demon might discover the secret before you do."

"I'm not a demon, remember, I'm only half, and there'd be no point in me trying to get the thing now."

"Oh, but why not, my Lord?"

"Because nothing has happened this year," answered the boy, as though that explained everything. To Myoga, unfortunately, it was much too cryptic.

"I don't think I know what you mean. Plenty has happened this year. There was a flood down the river, and a village of demon slayer's managed to subdue a large dragon demon, and the thunder brothers have been wreaking havoc as usual, and…"

"That isn't what I meant, Myoga."

"Then what did you mean, Lord Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha sighed heavily. He hated having to explain himself. It wasn't like he had a lot of practice at it. Normally he simply did what he wanted. You never had to explain yourself when you were always alone. For some reason, though, Inuyasha never found that comforting.

"I meant, flea, that nothing has changed with me. Whatever's gonna happen to make me able to get the sword is going to be big, definitely too big to miss, and nothing worth noticing had happened to me lately. Nothing has happened, so there's no point in expecting things to be different all of a sudden."

The flea demon nodded slowly. "I understand your logic, my Lord, but you can not give up hope. That sword was meant for you. Your lord father wished you to have it. He must have intended you to find a way to retrieve it."

Inuyasha didn't reply. He could have argued with the flea, shouted at him, called him an idiot, but in all honesty, he didn't feel like it. He was sore, he was bleeding, and he was in no mood to sit there and have the same argument he'd had with the same flea for what felt like the hundredth time.

The flea began speaking again, realizing his lord had no plans on answering, this time jabbering on about some female flea or something, but Inuyasha wasn't really listening. Instead, he just allowed his mind to drift off, lost in his own thoughts. That seemed to happen a lot, probably the result of spending way too much time alone.

Of course, little did he know that wasn't going to be a problem for very much longer. He had no idea that after that day he'd be lucky to get ten minutes to himself uninterrupted, not that he was going to miss the solitude anyway.

The half demon lord was startled out of his reverie by a distant sound. There was no doubt what that noise had been.

It was a scream. Some girl somewhere not to far away was screaming, as though utterly terrified.

Myoga had frozen mid-rant. "My lord, did you hear that?"

Inuyasha didn't answer. Jumping to his feet, he charged towards the sound of the scream, not even stopping to pick up his haori.

"My lord, where are you going? Not after that girl, are you. Right, well, you won't be needing me. I'll just stay here and guard you coat then. Don't you worry, your haori will be safe with me!"

Inuyasha never heard any of this, as he was much to far away, thinking of nothing but getting to whoever was screaming before something bad happened.

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The resolve Kagome had when she had set out that morning hadn't faded, but the energy she'd had was gone. As she trudged along the dirt road, with nothing to do but think about her upcoming to journey, she began to worry. Calm as she had been when leaving the shrine, the fact that she could no longer even see her childhood home in the distance was beginning to allow the panic to rise in her chest. She had never been any farther from the shrine than the rest of a village, a distance of maybe a mile, but now she had been walking for hours and had gone at least three or four times that.

On top of her nerves, her feet were starting to bother her. She wasn't used to walking such a distance, and the unfamiliar exercise was putting some serious strain on her muscles. It was very uncomfortable.

Kagome was starting to wonder worriedly if she had forgotten anything. The idea that the small pack she carried on her back had everything she would need for as long as a years seemed much more ridiculous now than it had when she had been packing. She supposed everything just looked like a whole lot more spread out in a shrine then condensed into a bag.

Though she was tired of walking, she didn't really want to stop, as she had no idea where she was and didn't want to be stranded out in the middle of nowhere come nightfall. So, she kept walking at an ever slowing pace, and eventually, when she knew she was much to far away from any life, though she knew in her mind that had been for a very long while, she finally allowed herself to let flow the tears that had been brewing behind her eyes since the night before.

Her tears flowed freely, and quietly, and she didn't stop walking. Not until she heard something suspicious behind her. Something that sounded very much like a chuckle.

Kagome turned slowly, her crying ceasing immediately, almost afraid of what she was about to see.

When she caught sight of what was following her, she did the last thing she expected herself to do. She screamed.

-

-

'So far, so good,' thought Midoriko as she waited for the moment to act, watching both the young priestess and the hanyou in her enchanted water basin. She was once again alone in the room that the older priestess had for her, and she was waiting for just the right time to spring her little plan into action. She knew that eventually, the two teenagers were destined to meet on there own, but she couldn't wait for that. She wanted them together as soon as possible, for Kagome's protection of course. In order to make that happen, she had to interfere, and timing was crucial.

The view in her basin was split down the middle. In one side, much as it had been for several hours, was Kagome. She hadn't done anything of particular interest the entire time Midoriko had been watching. Mostly, she just walked, sighing occasionally, adjusting her pack, or brushing her bangs out of her eyes. Poor girl's feet must have been killing.

The half demon, Inuyasha was his name, she thought, had been a much more interesting view. That morning, he had already fought a demon, destroying it, but getting himself wounded and thrown about in the process. Still a win was a win right? And now he seemed to be talking to himself, looking very harassed. It was a while before the guardian noticed the small flea demon bouncing around. She had to admit to herself that she was relieved. For a moment there, she had been afraid that she would have to find Kagome another companion. She couldn't very well stick the last hope of mankind with a nutcase, now could she? Could she? No, that was definitely a no no.

Finally, after hours of watching Kagome just walk, the girl had reached the closest point the hanyou that she could without leaving the road. Now, to draw the two together.

But how?

After a moment of wracking her brain for any semblance of a plan, something finally came to her. It wasn't actually a very good plan, but it was the best she could do.

A smile cracker her normally serious face. This would take illusion. Illusion was her specialty. Closing her eyes, Midoriko made a mental picture of what she wanted. Four or five of them would be plenty to scare Kagome into a scream, and as illusions they couldn't really hurt her.

It was a long shot. There was an awful lot to count on for the plan to work. For one thing, Kagome had to scream. For another, she had to make sure that the distance between the girl and the boy was small enough that he would be able to hear her and come to help. Of course, there was the possibility that his time alone had changed him, and he would ignore even the most desperate of screams of a human.

Pulling out five leaves from her self dubbed 'bag of tricks,' Midoriko cast her spell, the leaves disappearing, and looked into her bowl to see if it had worked as she had hoped.

On Inuyasha's side of the basin, the picture hadn't changed much. The kid had finished washing off his wound and was sitting there on a rock on the bank of a stream looking very irritable. On Kagome's, the girl was crying softly, wandering alone down a deserted road. She focused her attention on that side, waiting for any sign that her illusion had worked. She didn't have to wait long.

Suddenly the road behind Kagome wasn't so deserted anymore.

-  
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Kagome screamed. Behind her, the road was blocked by a small group of bandits, the leader of which was on horseback. He chuckled again, and it was not a nice sound, nothing like a laugh at all.

Unconsciously, she began to back away slowly, although she knew well enough that if a man on horseback chased her on foot, she didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of out running him.

"Well, well, well," said the man with a smile as cold and ominous as his voice was. "What have we here?"

"It's a girl, boss," one of the other bandits, clearly not the brainiac of the bunch, said helpfully.

"Yes, it is. Now what would a girl be doing out here all alone?"

"Oh, I was just heading to…" Kagome began, but apparently it was a rhetorical question, because he cut her off with the drawing of his sword and a glare. The _shing_ of metal on metal as the weapon left its sheath sent a chill down her spine.

"So, boys, what do you think we should do with this girl, seeing as how she is in our territory without permission," the boss asked his men, his disgusting toothy smile becoming even more pronounced so that Kagome could clearly see just how many teeth were missing from his repulsive mouth.

"We could play with her, boss."

"Sell her!"

"Eh, let's just kill her and be done with it."

"We're going to do something?" asked the idiot-bandit, after all the others have spoken. The leader sighed at him, and the man who had suggested killing her scoffed him around the head.

"We must teach her a lesson," proclaimed the head bandit to the cheers and laughter of his comrades. "Perhaps we ought to just grab her now and decide later what to do with her."

With that, they all turned to her like one many headed monster, and without a second though, Kagome did the only thing she could.

She turned, and ran like hell.

She didn't get far.

She had gone only a few paces when she felt herself run straight into something rather solid, but also a bit soft in places. She fell down, bruising her backside, and gazed up at whatever had blocked her way.

To her surprise, the what turned out to be a who.

Standing before her, looking pissed with his hands low on his hands crossed over the chest she had just crashed into, was not quite a man, not quite a demon. 'He must be a half demon," she thought to herself, staring vaguely up at him. Though he was facing the bandits, who had frozen in their tracks at his sudden appearance, he was looking, no glaring, at her. There was something very familiar about him, though she couldn't imagine why.

The man, no boy, definitely still in the boy category, had long silver hair that reached past his waist, easily brushing his hips. Somehow, the color still seemed youthful, despite the fact that it usually belonged only to the exceptionally old. His eyes, which were shrouded by black brows and narrowed slightly in a frown, were unlike any eyes she had ever seen before, amber, or maybe gold in color. He was clad in a white kimono and red hakama, very similar to her own shrine clothing, except that his were bunched at the ankles she was sitting next to. He wasn't wearing ay shoes, for whatever reason. The last thing she noticed, probably because they were so high up compared to her position on her butt, were his ears. Rather than being at the sides of his head, they were perched at the top, one pointing straight up and the other tilted to the side slightly, giving an impression of annoyance that matched his stance and expression frighteningly well, which made sense really. They were _his _ears.

After a minute or so, Inuyasha became annoyed with the girl ogling him like he had more heads than usual. Sure, he was used to this type of reaction from humans, but that didn't make it bother him any less.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and spoke. "Well, stupid girl, are you going to ask me to help you, or are you just gonna sit there and gape at me all day, cause if you are I'm outta here and you can deal with the moron band on your own."

For a moment, indignation flashed across her face at the insult, but then she glanced at the bandits, who all had unsheathed their weapons and were gazing hungrily at her, and it was gone.

"Yes, please, I would like your help, thanks."

The boy huffed as though this request was a totally unexpected irritation as opposed to it being his idea in the first place, but then he turned his head towards the five men before him.

"Prepare to die, morons," he said, cracking the knuckles in one hand lousy and extending claws which Kagome hadn't noticed before.

To both her and the demon boys great surprise, the group of bandits turned tail and ran in the other direction without looking back, screaming things like 'demon', 'monster', and 'why are we running' as they went. Kagome could guess which one had said the last thing.

The demon boy stood looming over her looking rather self satisfied, and then abruptly turned and walked away without a second glance.

"Wait!" called Kagome, scrambling to her feet. The boy didn't turn, but he did stop walking and she was able to catch up to him.

"What?" he snarled over his shoulder, clearly trying to be scary. To his great disappointment, it didn't work.

"I just wanted to thank you for saving me. I mean, you heard me scream and came to help and if you hadn't…"

The boy cut her off with a snort. "And what makes you think I came here because of you? How do you know I didn't just happen to wander by and also happen not to like bandits around here. I mean, it's not like I really had to do anything anyway. The cowards ran at the mere sight of me." For some reason, his voice as he said this sounded surprisingly bitter.

"Well, thanks anyway, because even if that was the case, you still didn't have to save me, and it's nice to thank people when they do nice things for you."

"Feh," he said, but he still didn't keep walking. "So what is a girl like you doing out here anyway?"

"What do you mean a girl like me?"

"A shrine maiden, I guess." He replied with a shrug.

"For your information, I happen to be a priestess," she snapped back, standing up straighter with pride.

The hanyou boy didn't seem to think it was great. In fact, he turned around and stared at her wide eyed, taking a step back.

"A priestess, huh?" he said conversationally, though she could see he had put he had replaced his fallen guard. It was only then that she noticed him eyeing the bow strung across her back.

"Oh, are you worried about this?" she asked him, gesturing vaguely behind her, though she stopped when she saw the muscles in his neck tighten, and dropped her hand.

"No!" he snapped back, not relaxing at all.

"Well, good, 'cause I only ever use that on bad demons, and you clearly aren't a bad demon. A jumpy one, maybe, but not a bad one." She giggled slightly at the confused scowl on his face, although he relaxed his stance visibly.

"I knew that."

"Sure, you did."

The boy opened his mouth to argue again, but caught sight of the bow and seemed to think better of it. Instead, he turned huffily, and started walking the in his original direction.

At the thought of being left alone on the road again, Kagome felt her panic begin to come up again like bile, and she ran to catch up with the half demon boy.

"Wait up!"

"Yeah, what?" he growled as she reached him, although there was no real venom behind it.

"Well, I was just thinking, in case something like this should happen again, maybe I should stay with you for a bit."

At that, he snapped around so fast that she walked into him again, and just barely managed to stay upright.

"Oh, no you don't! I am not about to play bodyguard to some helpless little priestess!"

"I am not helpless. I can do fine with demons, but if I shoot a human, they could die, and than I'd be a killer!"

"Sure, 'cause killing demon's isn't really killing right?"

"Hey! I only ever kill demons when they attack me or someone else. I only hurt the bad ones. I would never hurt a good demon. Its not like I would hurt someone like you!"

His glare intensified. "And what, pray tell, makes you so sure that I'm a good demon, anyway? Maybe I just wanted to kill and eat you myself, ever think of that?"

"Actually," Kagome admitted, "No, that never occurred to me. But I still don't believe it. You wouldn't just have walked away after saving me of you wanted to eat me."

"Feh," he said again, though he didn't dispute it.

"So what do you say?"

"I say got to hell."

"Aw, c'mon, how bad could it be?" she asked, elbowing him in the side gently.

"In my experience, that is the worst possible question anyone can ever ask you."

"Oh, c'mon, don't you care what happens to me?"

"No, not really."

"Then why did you save me?"

"Momentary lapse of judgment?"

"Oh, ha ha, you're so funny."

He didn't halt his retreat. She had to try something else.

"I take it you don't spend too much time with people?"

"What tells you that?"

"You have zero people skills."

"So, what's it to you?"

"Well, don't you think a traveling companion could be fun?"

"No."

"Aw, c'mon, you know you want to."

"No, I don't want to?"

"No you don't want to travel or now you don't want to know?"

"No travel?"

"So you're saying no to the know then?"

"Um…I don't know," he said. The girl was really beginning to confuse him.

"You don't know if its no to the know?"

"What?"

"I don't know."

Inuyasha sighed loudly and turned to face her. The winning smile she was wearing made him wish he'd kept on walking.

"Look, even if I wanted to help you, which I really, really don't, I couldn't. I have to, um…I have to go do something for my father in Renji city."

To his utter dismay, the girl brightened even more. "That's perfect!" she said happily. "That's exactly where I have to go. We can go there together."

"But…but…" he stuttered.

"Oh relax. I'll tell you what, you let me go as far as Renji city, and then when we get there, I'll never ask you to come anywhere with me ever again. Unless, of course, you want to?"

"And why would I want to?"

"I don't know. Just covering all my bases. You never know, maybe you'll actually like spending time with me."

He snorted loudly. "I doubt that."

"Okay, fine, maybe you won't, and in that case ill never bother you again. Deal?"

He was trapped and there was no way out. Sighing, he nodded. "Fine, deal. But once we get there, its goodbye forever, got that!"

"If you say so, but you may like me by then."

"I don't like you now."

"Well, it's a two week journey to Renji city on foot, and we don't have horses, so we have a long time for things to change."

"They won't."

"They might," she countered.

"And they might not."

"This is true," she said brightly. "I've walked enough for today, I'm exhausted, so unless you want to carry me on your back or something, we'll have to start tomorrow."

"Feh, like I'd ever want to lug you around on my back."

"I didn't think so, so I guess we can camp somewhere for tonight."

"I guess. Follow me. I know a place."

With that, the hanyou boy turned off the road and headed into the woods, but Kagome followed without apprehension, trusting him not to steer her wrong.

After a few minutes of silence, she finally thought of the question she should have asked quiet a while ago.

"Oh, by the way, I never caught your name."

"I never threw it."

"Oh, ha ha, you're so funny. Well unless you want to be known as 'hey you' or 'guy with the funny ears' (the ears in question twitched in irritation he seemed to be irritated a lot) for the next two weeks, I suggest you tell me something else I can call."

He didn't say anything for a moment, and Kagome began to think he wasn't going to, until finally she heard a grunt.

"Inuyasha."

"Sorry, what was that?"

"I said my name is Inuyasha," he said.

"Inuyasha," Kagome repeated slowly, tasting the word. "That sounds kinda familiar. I like it."

"What about you?"

"What about me what?"

"Well, I don't think you want to go through the next two weeks as hey you either."

"Oh, yeah right. I'm Kagome."

"Hi Kagome."

"Hi Inuyasha."

-

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Longest chapter yet. Wow. Hard to right. Glad that's done with. You know, it's weird, but I don't really feel like I'm writing this at all. I feel like I'm seeing it and its ending up in paper. It's strange to me, but I don't really have to think about it at all. It's really enjoyable to write like that, which may have something to do with the reason this chapter is 15 pages long on word. He he. Well I had a really good time writing this, and I'm gonna start on chapter five right now, and I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Most fun I've had all week, which might not say much for my week. Just so you know, my next chapter won't be up till Monday, Sunday night (really really late) at the earliest, cause I'm visiting my mom in Connecticut and she doesn't have internet access, but I swear I'll have it done by then. Like I said, despite the fact that it is currently 4 am, I just gotta get started. I enjoy this way too much. I'm such a loser. Please REVIEW! I love reviews.

Oh, by the way, O-Mega Lead, the two of them will be alone for at least the two week trip to Renji, and maybe longer, which will be at least a few chapters, so don't worry. They will have their time to bond. You never need to worry about that, 'cause I love that stuff too.

P.S. Do any of you have any idea how long it takes to spell check a 15 page document that includes names like Inuyasha. Kagome, Kaede, Myoga, Midoriko, Renji, as well as words like kimono, hakama, haori, and anything else I said in Japanese that I can't remember now? I'll tell you how long it takes. 15 minutes. Approximately.


	5. Bugs and Bandages

I'm really sorry this took so very long to get up, but I am, as I write this, away from home doing a one week summer improvisational theater program at umass (university of Massachusetts), and I have no internet here…at all. I could have bought a connection, but its way to expensive to be worth it for just a week. Translated, dad didn't want to pay for it, so here I am in the cinder block dorm room right now, which forcibly reminds me of the gymnasium at my school, and I'm writing chapter five. Another reason this took so long is because I had started it earlier and put it aside, and then looked at it again and said to myself "what in hell was I thinking?" Yeah, it was bad. Actually, time two was bad too, so this is the third try. So hopefully this one will be better, as I have really no distractions. Sigh. That means its boring in Rachelese.

Something involving Rumiko Takahashi, copyright laws, I'm tired and don't care.

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**The Great Jewel Hunt**

**Chapter 5: Bugs and Bandages**

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That first night together could best be described as awkward.

Inuyasha led Kagome off of the dusty road and into the thick foliage around it. He knew exactly where he was going as he headed for the clearing he'd been resting in before he had heard the girls call. Of course he didn't mention any of this to Kagome. Instead, he just turned off the road suddenly and walked quickly through the trees, and if that made the little priestess think twice about following a demon dense and unfamiliar woods, and she decided to turn back, all the better for him.

He was to be disappointed. Kagome didn't spare a second thought about following Inuyasha. She might have just met him, but, half demon or not, any good priestess could tell evil when she looked at it. Inuyasha was definitely not evil. Although it seemed his emotions were a bit too complicated to read easily, and she knew she would need time to sort him out, there was no obvious darkness in him. Mostly what she sensed was severe annoyance, although she didn't need to be a priestess to tell when that hanyou was annoyed. In fact, all she needed to do was be there, whenever or wherever, as he was always annoyed.

Still, irritated is not evil, and so Kagome followed after the half demon completely blindly, not even keeping track of where he was leading her, and trusting that he wouldn't steer her wrong.

Sure enough, the pair only walked for a few minutes before the undergrowth parted to reveal a wide clearing, complete with a small stream, and a log which served as a bench. Kagome sat herself on it immediately, glad to be somewhere where she wasn't being snagged by shrubbery or set upon by bandits. It was only then she noticed a red rumple on the ground near her feet. Picking it up, she realized it was a red haori, that just happened to match exactly with the red hakama her rescuer was wearing. He must have known the clearing was there, because he had been there before.

The hanyou, Inuyasha, was determinedly looking everywhere but her, so determinedly in fact that he had yet to notice that she was clutching his own forgotten clothing. Kagome could feel uneasiness in the air around him, between them, and it was making her very uncomfortable.

Shifting awkwardly on her log, haori still in hand, she decided to try to make conversation with the would-be hero.

Toying restlessly with a damp spot on the garmet, she finally spoke up.

"Is this thing yours?" she asked him, only then recognizing the stupidity of the question, and hoping he hadn't caught on to it.

Inuyasha finally looked at her. Well, he quirked an eyebrow in her general direction.

"No, wench, it fell off a haori tree, and it just happens to match me," he growled, snatching it back.

"Right," she muttered quietly, looking down at her hands that the wet spot on the cloth had dampened.

They were stained red with blood.

A sharp intake of breath caught the half demon's attention, and he, finally, looked his companion in the face. Her expression, though a vain attempt at calm, was tinged with nerves.

"Something wrong?" Inuyasha asked automatically, quickly adding a "not that I really care or nuthin'," at the end.

"There's…um…some blood on your haori," the priestess answered meekly. She tried to keep her face and voice blank as she wondered why a supposed good guy would be wearing clothes covered in blood. He laughed bitterly, and though it was not a threatening sound, she swallowed impulsively anyway.

"And you're wondering why there's blood on my clothes, right? Did you ever think I may have killed a demon or something?"

Kagome swallowed again. She still sensed no evil in the boy before her, yet he had yet to belie her suspicions, and when she responded, it was with more courage then she felt at the moment. "If there had been a demon around here, I would have been able to sense it, and the only one I felt today was a centipede demon a few hours ago, and they don't bleed red, and that blood is fresh."

"Well, centipedes may not bleed red, wench, but I do," he answered gruffly, no longer looking at her. It was only then that she noticed the tear in his kimono sleeve, and the blood on the underside of it. She couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed it earlier.

"Oh," she practically whispered, embarrassed by her implication.

"Yeah, oh," Inuyasha snarled back.

"I didn't mean too say…"

He snorted. "Of course you didn't."

They both fell silent, Kagome watching as he dipped the offended sleeve into the water of the stream, trying to get the blood off of it. It was several minutes before Kagome could come up with anything to say.

"Can I see it?" she asked Inuyasha, who shot her a confused and hesitant look in return.

"See what?" he asked suspiciously.

"See your wound? The one that bled all over your clothes."

"What, still don't believe me, wench?" he growled.

"I do so believe you!" Kagome argued. "I just thought I could help you with it. I _am_ a priestess, after all, and I know a thing or two about treating injuries."

Inuyasha snorted bitterly. "I don't need any help from you, _priestess_!" spitting the last word like it was an obscenity.

Said priestess wasn't bothered by that. "Oh, c'mon, just let me look at it. I want to help."

"I don't care what you want."

"But it must hurt."

"It doesn't."

"Just let me see it for a minute."

"No."

"Oh, stop being such a baby."

"I am not being a baby!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"AM NOT!"

"Don't yell at me, I'm just trying to help," Kagome said, getting up and dusting herself off. "Oh, and ARE TOO!" And with that, the priestess lunged at him before he could avoid it from his position on the ground.

It didn't work out quite like she planned. First, he tried to get up out of her way, but slipped on the damp grass and fell back into a sitting position. Before she could even laugh, Kagome found the same slippery, wet grass patch, and ended up sprawling right on top of Inuyasha. Before he could so much as open his mouth, however, Kagome had straddled his waist and, hands planted firmly on his chest to hold him down.

"Get off me, wench."

"Sure…as soon as I see that wound."

"No way! Now get off."

"No!"

"Get your ass off of me!"

"Nope."

"Get off or I'll throw you off."

"Sorry, pal, not gonna happen."

Inuyasha opened his mouth to retaliate, but he was interrupted mid breath by a startled little gasp, and a tiny "Lord Inuyasha, what has gotten into you?"

Both priestess and hanyou froze, and turned their heads as one to see the source of the noise, although Inuyasha had a pretty good guess what it was.

Naturally, there on the ground beside the squabbling youths was a flea demon.

"MYOGA!" shouted Inuyasha, just as Kagome screamed "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKK, BUGGGGG!"

Before Inuyasha could stop her (Although he wasn't completely sure he was going to try), Kagome had swatted her hand down on Inuyasha's tiny vassal, squishing him and receiving a little "oomph" in return.

Only then did she turn to Inuyasha, whom she still had pinned to the ground.

"What's a Myoga?" she asked him.

"That was Myoga. He's a flea demon, and harmless, by the way."

"Oh," Kagome flushed. "Woopsy."

"Yeah, I think you killed him," Inuyasha added conversationally. "And get the hell off of me."

Pointedly ignoring the last part, Kagome turned to the paper thin flea just in time to see him pop himself back into shape.

"No, My Lord, I'm still alive."

"Damn," said the hanyou.

"I'm sorry…Myga, was it?"

"Myoga, lady priestess, and don't think of it. Such is the life of a flea," answered the bug, bowing gracefully. Kagome giggled, noticing that the flea demon had on tiny little clothes as well as an itsy bitsy beard, and seemed to be losing his hair, and unable to keep herself from grinning childishly at him.

"Was I…uh…interrupting something…private?" queried Myoga suggestively, bouncing his tiny brows at Inuyasha.

There went the grin.

"What do you mean?" asked Inuyasha, momentarily missing the small demon snickers emanating from his vassal.

"If you would like a little more time to…get acquainted, as it were, I would be more than happy to leave you to…it"

Inyuasha didn't say anything, he did, however, bring his closed fist down on the flea, squashing him once again to the width of rice paper. After pooping back into shape, the flea fled for his life without another word.

"Now will you get off of me?" growled Inuyasha, feeling his patience begin to stretch rather thin over his unusually short fuse.

"Only if you show me the wound," Kagome huffed, crossing her arms with resolve. Inuyasha growled, but he couldn't throw her off and risk actually hurting her. As much as he disliked her, he simply didn't have it in him to attack a helpless girl. He raised his right arm and held the back of his hand to his chest so that she could see the wound winding down his fore arm. Without another word, Kagome slid to the ground, allowing him to sit up, and grabbed the arm, gently but firmly, looking extremely pleased with herself.

Once she had hold of Inuyasha's arm and trusted that he wouldn't pull it back the second she let him go, Kagome looked more closely at the wound and grimaced. The cut was longer than his hand, starting at the underside of his wrist and snaking up almost to his elbow.

"Ow," she said sympathetically. Inuyasha only snorted, but he didn't pull his arm back for fear of getting trampled all over again. "Why didn't you bandage that?"

"And where do you propose I should have gotten the bandages from?"

"Oh, right. Well, I can fix this up for you easily enough."

"Feh, no thanks. I told you I don't need you help."

"Well, fine, we can just stay like this until you change your mind. Its fine by me. I can wait." With that she climbed back on top of him before he could stop her, and sat there with her arms crossed over her chest.

Inuyasha shot her his severest, scariest glare, which she met with equal resolve, until, defeated, he sighed and nodded.

Trying to hide her immense self satisfaction, Kagome once again freed the agitated youth, and took hold of the bloodied arm. She ran her fingers gently down the side of the injury, brushing the wound slightly and catching Inuyasha's wince as she did do.

"Sorry," she grimaced hastily, her touch lightened by sympathy. Without another word, Kagome dove her hands into her pack, feeling around the bottom for a couple of jars of ointment and a roll of bandages, and extricating the items from her bag.

The first jar she opened was full of a gel-like purple substance, which stung brutally as she applied it. Inuyasha drew breath sharply through his teeth in a hiss, and Kagome grimaced.

"I know, I know it stings. I hate it too, but it'll help clean the wound and speed e healing process. Sorry it hurts."

"Ha," snapped Inuyasha in response. "it's nuthin', just caught me by surprise is all. And I don't need any help with the healing, thanks. Half demons heal fast on their own, I swont even have a scar," he added smugly.

"That's good then," said Kagome distractedly, as she capped the first jar and pried the lid of the other. The second jar contained a salve the general consistency of paste and a sickly green color. This one she spread over the wound gently.

The sensation was immediate. It started as a gentle and comfortable cooling, and then the pain in Inuyasha's arm simply faded away into no more than a dull ache. "What is that stuff?" he asked her trying to mask his awe.

"Just an herb salve. It's supposed to help with pain. Is it working?"

"Um…yeah, it's working, but it didn't really hurt so much to begin with."

"Well, you still don't need to feel it if it hurts, do you?" she answered as she began to wrap the cloth bandages around his arm with as much care as she possibly could, which was a considerable amount. Her ministrations didn't seem to cause the boy any pain, though, as he simply watched with mild interest as she ripped an end in the bandages and tucked it firmly into an older layer.

"There, that should do it."

"You know, I didn't really need this. You should save this stuff for yourself. Unlike you, I'm not a weakling human."

Kagome shrugged as she replaced the items in her bag. "Well, the salves are easy enough to make, and I'm sure we can get more bandages without too much trouble. Besides, you seem human enough to me."

"Oh, I do, do I?" Inuyasha retorted, raising his hackles again. "Well, wench, I'm not human."

"You're half human, I thought," answered Kagome curiously.

"Yeah, but I'm also half demon. You'd do well not to forget that."

"Well, I don't think that's very important," said Kagome with another shrug of her shoulder. "You're human where it counts."

"And where is that?" Inuyasha snarled.

"Maybe I'll tell you later. Now, I think we ought to eat something, cause it's getting late."

With that last comment, Kagome rose to her feet and walked around the clearing grabbing sticks and low branches, it took Inuyasha a moment to see what she was doing, but he soon realized that she was planning to make a fire to cook over. A glance at the heavens, which, in the western sky had begun to take on varying hues of pinks and oranges, he could see that the girl had been right about the growing hour. Rising to his feet, he wandered over to her to help, absently picking at the bandages around his arm.

"Stop picking them," said Kagome with a quick glance at him.

"I wasn't picking," he snapped back, quickly removing his hand from the seam of the cloth wrapping.

"Sure, you weren't," muttered Kagome quietly, smiling to herself. The hanyou, clearly having heard her but determined to pretend he hadn't, scoffed and stomped off into the woods. Kagome wasn't worried, and sure enough, he came back with a dead rabbit in one hand, grumbling even more loudly than he had before.

He might think that being stuck with her for two weeks was just about the worst thing that could've happened, and judging from his expression, he was thinking just that, Kagome, however, could imagine far worse fates than being trapped with the handsome, though admittedly irritable young man who sat across from her, his back resting against the tree. Difficult as Inuyasha seemed, she couldn't shake the strong feeling that having met him was a good thing.

Many miles from there, a woman by the name of Midoriko sat in a room, staring avidly into what appeared to be a simple water basin, a smiling curling her lips upwards. Everything was going exactly as it should. Sure the too youths were sniping at each other, but they had weeks ahead of them to learn to get along, and she had a feeling that it wasn't going to be so big a problem as she had assumed.

Erasing the image, Midoriko set down the basin and lay back on the matrees with a sigh, hands supporting her head. She knew that if the two ever found out how she had played with them, they would be furious with her, and she knew that them finding out was inevitable. All she could do was hope that, by that time, they had already fallen so deeply in love with one another that they didn't care.

The woman smiled to herself, repeating her justifying line in her head.

_All is fair in love and war. And this happens to be a little of both._

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So, here it is folks, chapter five, at long last. I know, I know, took me long enough, but I've been preoccupied. Since I started this chapter before all this stuff began, the message at the top doesn't reflect these sentiments. Maybe this will explain. My friend recently lost his little sister, and my worry for him has been blocking out any desire to create I could have mustered. He was absolutely devastated, but I'm glad to say that he is doing better. I knew his sister, Chloe, who would have been five in January of this year if I am not mistaken, very well. Between mourning her and worrying about him, I have been distracted. I sincerely hope no none who reads this and has waited begrudges me, because as you all should know, if it's a choice between a fun and lovable imaginary couple, and a real friend in real pain, my friend comes first, as well he should. Yours should to. I hope none of you spend all day in your room reading fan fictions, because that is no way to live. I know they are fun, I earnestly love them, but reality can be pretty awesome too when you give it the chance. Thanks for listening to my rant, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please REVIEW! I hope to pot another soon. Now shut off your computer, call your friends, and go hang out with them. And this is for TJ, though he'll never care to read it, and for Chloe, though she'll never get the chance to.


	6. Headed to Danger

Hello all. Chapter 6. I've had kind of a crappy week. See, last Saturday I went to get my wisdom teeth pulled, all four, and now it really hurts. Not fun. At least there's zero chance of me having to do it again. My face is so swollen, I have the jaw line of captain planet, but only on one side, which makes my head feel heavy and lopsided. Did you know Vicodin makes you sleepy? Those silly narcotics. They give 'em to you after ripping pieces of your jaw out. For something so addictive and widely abused, you'd think they'd at least be pleasant, wouldn't you? But no. They only help with the pain. How disappointing. I'm a little bit pissed at them actually for not living up to the hype.

I don't own Inuyasha or such things, blah blah, I wished I cared more. Alas, I don't. Whatever. Sleepy.

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The Great Jewel Hunt

Chapter 6: Headed to Danger

It was Inuyasha who woke first. He had fallen asleep leaning his back against a tree, but awoke to find himself lying on the ground in front of it on his side. He hadn't intended to sleep at all, not with someone he didn't even know, someone who could easily kill him if he dropped his guard, lying a few feet away. Especially not when it was a girl. Annoyingly enough, his body didn't seem to care about what he intended, as it had been overcome by exhaustion and fallen asleep anyway without his consent.

Inuyasha cursed himself silently, but he didn't dwell too much on his weakness. He had other things to consider. The priestess was still asleep, snoozing soundly into the early hours of the morning. For a moment, he toyed with the idea of simply getting up and walking away before she rose. He dismissed the thought immediately as it came to him. It was to the girl's good fortune that she had found him when she had. To abandon her would be nothing short of a death sentence at the hands of evil demons or ruthless humans, and Inuyasha was not willing to do that.

Sighing, he leaned back against his tree, hands behind his head. There was nothing for it. He would simply have to lead the girl to Renji city and hope that, when he ditched her there, she would have the sense not to try to follow alone. Perhaps she could even recruit some companions once they had arrived.

After several minutes of introspection, Inuyasha noticed the girl, Kagome, begin to stir. He simply watched as she blearily opened her eyes and sat up, rubbing the sleep from the corners of her lids.

"Morning," she said to Inuyasha with a pleasant and airy tone characteristic of only partial wakefulness.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and ignored her greeting. Her mood, however, did not falter as she began to boil some water in a pot she had produced from her pack, over the new fire she had made in the same place as the previous night.

"What are you doing, girl?" Inuyasha asked her after watching for a few minutes as she rummaged in her bag, pulling out dried, bagged leaves, and some sort of powder, which both found there way into the water.

"I'm making tea," she answered, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Tea?"

"Yeah, tea. Haven't you ever had tea before?"

Inuyasha thought back. Surely, when he was a child, his mother had made him tea. She must have at some time, he thought, but he couldn't remember any specific instance.

"I don't know," he said.

Kagome stopped what she was doing to gape at him. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean, wench, that I don't know."

"How could you not know?"

"I don't remember, ok? I might have had it when I was younger, but if I did I don't remember, and definitely not recently, so I don't know."

The girl watched him with an odd expression on her face for a moment, then turned back to the pot and began to stir again.

"Well, either way I think you'll like it," she told him, her cheeriness restored.

When her brewing was done, she poured some of the 'tea' into two cups that her pack had produced, seemingly from no where, and handed the first to Inuyasha. He accepted it, but didn't sip as she watched him expectantly.

Slightly put off, Kagome frowned at him. "Well, aren't you at least going to try it before you decide if you like it or not?" she asked him.

"How do I know you haven't done something to it?" he asked her.

"Like what? I sweetened it if that's what you mean." Before she finished she could see that it wasn't. Inuyasha was watching her warily, as though half expecting she would jump him again and try to pour it down his throat.

"You could have put something in it. Something that isn't supposed to be in tea." He sniffed the cup carefully as he spoke, but his eyes never left Kagome, and suddenly she understood.

"What, you mean you think I poisoned it or something?" she asked, shocked by the idea. Inuyasha, however, acted as if her comprehension of his suspicion was as good as admittance, pushing the cup farther from his face. Kagome rolled her eyes inwardly, but tried to keep her face impassive.

"Well, here, I'll prove it's fine," she told him, taking a sip from her own drink. Inuyasha was not convinced.

"Just because that one's ok, doesn't mean you didn't poison this one," he said, sounding for all the world like a child accusing her of cheating at cards, despite the fact that she had shown him that there was nothing up her sleeves.

"Oh, for the love of…here," she said, snatching his tea from him and taking a swig. Unfortunately, she had forgotten that the liquid was still hot, and it seared at her mouth and throat, making her cough and splutter in surprise.

"See! I knew it!" snapped Inuyasha, clearly convinced his theory had been confirmed.

"Inuyasha, it's hot! It is hot tea. I forgot and drank too much, I swear it's completely fine," she assured him, taking a small sip from his cup, this time mindful of the temperature. "You see?" she asked, offering it back. He accepted it, still watching her. "It's just fine. Why would I try to hurt you?"

Inuyasha didn't answer. He stared at the priestess, straight into her eyes, and still he could detect no dishonesty. All that he saw was confusion, reconciliation, and perhaps a hint of well covered exasperation. For a priestess, she really didn't know much about the way priestesses and demons usually got along, nor, for that matter, the way humans tended to think of demons. Unable to find a reason to distrust her, Inuyasha raised Kagome's offering of tea to his lips and took a sip.

The taste wasn't strong, but it was sweet. It didn't taste quite like water, but nicer and pleasant, he could taste the scent of jasmine in it. He looked back at Kagome, keeping his face blank. He had no plans on telling her, after all that, that he liked her tea quite a lot.

Mollified, Kagome smiled again, returning her attention to the small fire she had tended..

"I think," she told him, "that it is time for breakfast."

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The demon roared, rearing it's ugly, serpentine skull, jaw wide open and ready to tear at flesh, bone, or whatever else got in its way.

"Not this time!" declared one man, and the others roared in assent, though they doubted the demon could understand them. Readying spears, swords, bows and arrows, and all other manner of weaponry, thirty grown men charged as one, surrounding the beast and stabbing, cutting, shooting and slashing it wherever they could.

The creature writhed and screamed horribly, trying to wriggle away from each sharp object that stabbed at it in turn. It hissed, and squealed, and attempted to bolt, but to no avail. Its enemies were all attacking at the same time, and before it could so much asses which side was in worse danger, it was already wounded and falling, the ground coming fast up to meet it.

Even though the snake-like creature landed with a crash, giving on final, pathetic cry, the men stabbed and slashed at it until even the final twitches of death had subsided. They then hollered and cheered, celebrating their victory.

They had the perfect strategy for fighting all manner of demons.. As one unit, they surrounded the thing and attacked from all sides, confusing the dumb brute just long enough to wound it so severely that it was no longer a threat. Still, they kept up the assault until the being beneath their flailing weapons moved no more.

It was brief, sure, and brutal. Perfection. The creature, good or evil, didn't matter. They always lost. They always died.

The demon never stood a chance.

As the sounds of victory died down, the leader, a cold, cruel, bloodthirsty little beast himself, came to the front of the crowd.

"My friends," he said, raising his voice over the remnants of the din, quieting his underlings, "We have fought another battle today, and we are VICTORIUS!"

More cheering, but the man silenced it with a wave of his hand.

"We have, once again, showed the demonic world that they will not be tolerated on human soil!"

More cheers.

"We have shown the monsters that they are not welcome on our land, be they a threat or not! WE HAVE SHOWN THEM!"

Cheers.

"We will kill every last one of the beasts!"

Howls.

"We will cleanse our world of the impurity that is demonic blood!"

Hoots. Hollers. Shouts.

"We are human. We are pure. WE WILL DESTROY THEM, AND ANYONE ELSE THAT STANDS IN OUR WAY!"

Screams of joy erupted from the assembled men. All were dirty, unfeeling bastards, with a bloodlust to match their leader's, the headman of the village in which they resided. The village which they had taken over, forcing the former residents to do as they were told or be tortured, killed, or else forced to watch their families endure such fates for their insolence.

The murderous band, bored by human opponents who fell so easily at their hands, had taken to hunting and slaying demons, while keeping the human population enslaved.

They were heartless. They were evil. But they were strong, and the villagers were too afraid of suffering as they had seen anyone who opposed the regime suffer. They had families, and they couldn't fight if it meant risking their childrens', wives', husbands', parents' lives.

The cruel collection of pillagers and plunderers had oppressed them so far, that they felt there was no hope of escape. It was exactly what the villains wanted to happen. They knew that, to keep people under their control, they had to keep them afraid, and they thrived on doing just that.

"Men," the leader addressed his subordinates, smiling maliciously. "We have run out of demons in the area. So, until more should come around, we'll just have to make do with the human trash in this stinking place."

The men sniggered at their leader's nastiness.

"Do as you please with them!" he said maliciously. Then, with a wicked smirk he added, "And with their wives."

"And their daughters," shouted one of the more riotous men, leading the others in a chorus of jeers.

Yelling and Barking, the gang headed back towards the village, attacking or killing any villager unfortunate enough to get in there way.

A young mother, who had lost her husband to the crew of murderers, shielded her 9 year old daughter behind her as the loud mob passed their hut, praying that they would somehow find help soon, before her and her child fell victim to one of the men seeking 'pleasurable company.'

Unknown to her, the answer to her prayers was wandering a dirt road.

Of course, its no surprise she didn't know. Her answers didn't know either.

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The road was damp, despite the fact that it hadn't rained for several days. The wet dirt, though not quite mud, stuck thickly to her sandals, often getting on her feet, gritty and unpleasant. Kagome didn't like it.

Of course, she couldn't complain. Not to Inuyasha. She had the feeling that he wouldn't like her whining about a bit of dirt on her feet, not that she was big on grumbling about minimal discomfort.

It was well over an hour of walking before Kagome realized that Inuyasha wasn't wearing any shoes. Doing a quick double-take, she confirmed that his feet were completely bare, not even covered by a sock, though the road was rough and often rocky. Kagome stared absently, making up her own reasons for the boys lack of foot wear.

'Perhaps he doesn't fit into any shoes,' she mused. 'Or maybe he lost his. Or maybe…'

"You got a question, wench?" Inuyasha asked, his voice unusually civil and his tone compliant

"Um…actually yeah. How come you don't have any shoes or anything? I mean, don't you hurt your feet? Walking around all the time, you must step on sharp things sometimes."

Inuyasha snorted in response. "I'm half-demon. My skin is tougher than a humans, especially on my feet. No rock is going to cut me. If I stepped on a sword, or something metal, than maybe, but not a _rock._" Kagome nodded her understanding. "Besides," he added, almost sheepishly, "I don't like shoes."

Kagome stored at him for a moment, and then laughed aloud.

"Hey! What's so funny?!" Inuyasha demanded.

"Nothing," insisted Kagome, though she smiled. She couldn't help it. Not for the first time, Kagome reminded herself that, as far as a traveling companion went, she could have done a lot worse.

Sure, Inuyasha was thick-headed, and rather stubborn. Yes, he was gruff and often rude. True, he made no effort to hide his distaste for her company.

And yet…there was just something about him. Some endearing quality that she couldn't explain or pin point. He wasn't nice, but he was. Not pleasant, but pleasant. It was almost like she could see something else in him. There were some moments when he was a bit scary, but usually he was just immature. There was something about the pout he didn't seem to notice that he pulled whenever he didn't understand or trust something that Kagome liked. Really liked.

"So Renji city. That's two weeks away, right?"

Inuyasha nodded. "Yes, two weeks. There are villages on the way though, so you can…get stuff or whatever."

"Really? How long until we see the first one?"

"Not sure," Inuyasha said, shrugging. "I never really paid attention. A day or two, I guess. Why?"

"No reason," Kagome answered, hastening her steps until she was walking directly beside the hanyou. "Just curious."

Inexplicably happy, Kagome sped her walk to keep pace with Inuyasha's longer stride. Noticing this, he slightly, almost imperceptibly, slowed to make it easier. Glancing to his right, he caught Kagome's small, satisfied smile, as though he had just proved that something she had been trying for a while to explain was, beyond a shade of a doubt, true.

Kagome didn't miss the way his cheeks dusted pink.

'Yep,' she told herself. 'It could definitely be worse.'

Of course, had she known it was about to get a good deal worse, maybe she wouldn't have forgotten that old law of the universe. If it can get worse, usually, it will. And it always can get worse.

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So the chapter is finally done now, and here it is. I know, it's not very eventful, but I'm trying to set the stage, here. The real show starts in chapter 7, so…read it. I don't have anything good to say really. Sorry this took so long. Oh, and it's been a few weeks now and my teeth feel fine. I'm relieved. Ok, so, I'm in boring mode right now. Sorry. Please review.


	7. Riko

I am so sorry this took so very long to be put up. I haven't had much writing time is all. I just started my senior year of high school, and between college essays, college recommendations, college interviews, college admittance tests, college applications, college visits, not to mention a full class load, I've been pretty dead lately. I haven't had a minute to breath, much less write. It's terrible. I feel like I haven't read a book in an age. Very unlike me. Anyway, here is chapter 7. I hope you like, 'cause I'm not sure how long it will need to tide you over for. I'll try very hard not to let my updates get this spread out again. I have two other stories that need to be updated to. Every heard the saying 'The early bird catches the worm'? Well. I've coined a new, equally corny one. 'The Busy bee gets the migraine.' Not catchy exactly, but I don't really care. Without further ado, since I can't think of any more ado, on with the show.

Oh, wait, just found some ado. A few people mentioned that they didn't get the deal with the bunch of killers. Well, people, that's 'cause I haven't explained it yet. Don't worry, I full plan to make it very clear. For future reference, if I mention something that seems inane or unrelated, just hold on to the idea that I put it there for a reason, and will be explaining it satisfactorily. At least I hope I will, or I'm not a very good writer. Now, on with the show, so to speak.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not a car. Not a house. Not a country. Not even a cat, and certainly not Inuyasha.

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**The Great Jewel Hunt**

**Chapter 7: Riko**

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Nerves were running high. It was early afternoon, and barely past three, yet the sky had already taken on a hue of twilight. The lighthearted mood of the day before had evaporated as the journey progressed. There was something, perhaps in the air, that was telling the unlikely pair on some level that they were headed for danger.

It took Kagome a while to figure out what it was that was bothering her so much about the place. Everything looked basically normal, apart from the dreary, solemn quality the whole area seemed to possess, but still something nagged at her mind. Finally, she realized what it was. Silence. Though she and Inuyasha were surrounded by trees and a forest, no noise seemed to be being made, as though every animal had up and left. No bird chirped, no squirrel rustled the leaves, no owl hooted, no rabbit scampered daintily across the ground in search of food. The air had a damned, dead quality. And Kagome didn't like it. Not at all.

One look at Inuyasha told her that he was feeling it too, though with the keen senses of danger she had learned he had, she wasn't surprised. He made no objection when she halved the distance between them, and seemed to be wary, walking as though expecting to be ambushed. After about a half an hour of utter silence, disturbed only by the sounds of two pairs of feet patting the road, he stopped, and sniffed at the air.

"You feel it too, don't you?" he said.

Kagome nodded slowly. There was no need to ask what he was referring to. It was simply unmistakable. "Are you worried?" she asked him quietly, expecting a scoff. She was to be disappointed.

Inuyasha paused for a moment and then inclined his head. "I wasn't before, even though I get a weird feeling here. That just happens sometimes, but now…"

"But now something has changed." She finished. It wasn't a question.

He nodded again. There's something in the air. A scent. It's distant, and there's a lot interfering with it, but I'm sure I know what it is."

"…And?"

"Blood."

Kagome froze. "Human blood or demon blood?"

"Hard to tell, but it seems like there's a good amount of both."

"Could it have been a battle or something?"

"Not likely." Inuyasha answered, sounding more serious and adult then she had ever heard him. "This is a large amount of blood, some old and some new, on both sides. Humans don't usually send armies to fight a force of demon's, and most demons wouldn't be smart enough to think of banding together, not that they could get along if they were. No. Whatever's killing over there, its one entity killing everything, without discrimination. Human, demon, even animal. It's something that doesn't care."

"So what do you think, a demon?"

"I hope so," Inuyasha answered gravely.

"Why on earth would you hope a thing like that?" gasped Kagome, aghast.

"Because, firstly, if it's a human killer than it will be more than one person for sure. No one man could do all that. Secondly, most of the evil demons don't really have souls. They have no conscience, no power to feel remorse. It isn't innate for them like it is for people. If the killer or killers are humans willing to murder their own kind, then they aren't the kind of people that you'd ever want to meet."

Kagome nodded. His reasoning was surprisingly, amazingly sensible for him. Especially for him. The priestess and the hanyou began walking again without really thinking about it, as though drawn by some horrible curiosity to the sight of the carnage. The farther they went, the heavier the air became, putting both of them on edge. Before long, they began to see land that had obviously been cultivated by human hands. The field only increased the sense of foreboding in the air, because everything in it, to the very last plant, was dead and brown. The land reeked with the pungent odor of decay. Kagome grabbed Inuyasha's sleeve unconsciously, and he did not pull away.

Before long, they came to the first of the homes. Actually, what they came to was a grouping of disheveled huts, well built and probably nice ten years before, but now in a terrible state of disrepair.

They saw no one in the village at first. "You don't think it's abandoned, do you?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha shook his head solemnly. "No. Look at all the supplies here. No one abandons a village and takes nothing with them. If there really is no one here, then it's possible that there's just no one left."

"What could have happened here?" asked Kagome, struggling to speak around the lump that had formed in her throat. "Who could have done such a thing?"

"The Blood Band," answered an unfamiliar voice behind her.

Kagome and Inuyasha spun around as one, the hanyou ready for a fight. The speaker, however, didn't look much up to a battle.

The voice had come from a small girl, so small in fact that, when turning around to address her, Inuyasha and Kagome both thought for a moment that there was no one there. Then they looked down. The child was about nine years old, but unusually short, and somehow odd.

The pair stared at her for a moment, unsure of how to respond. Though the girl looked normal enough, there was something mildly unsettling about her. It was the eyes. They were eyes that had seen many battles, so many that they no longer paid mind to the bloodshed the fell around them.

It was Inuyasha who, eventually, spoke first. "What do you want, kid?" he demanded gruffly, earning him an elbow in the stomach from Kagome. She gave him a withering look, and then moved forward to talk to the child herself. She bent low with her hands on her knees, to put herself on eye level with the girl.

"Hi. I'm Kagome. What's you name?" she asked, her voice filled with enough tacky, though genuine sweetness to rot her teeth.

"Riko," the girl answered in the same monotone voice. She didn't seem to need to blink as much as normal people, and Kagome had to resist the urge to squirm as she met the child's eyes.

"That's a pretty name. Riko, can you tell me where everyone is?"

"Everyone?" Riko asked, cocking her head to the side slightly.

"All the villagers. Do you know where they are?"

"Dead, mostly, I think," she answered. "Or hiding. We are always hiding when they come here. I'm supposed to be hiding with Mama. She'll be so mad that I'm not with her," she added, looking uncertain for the first time. "I had to come get Kotsuki." She held up the small doll that they hadn't noticed her clutching tightly in her arms. It was ragged and torn, with dark brownish stains on the cloth body that looked suspiciously like blood, but the girl held on to it as though all the world depended on her not letting it go.

"Kotsuki is a lovely doll," Kagome assured her, but Riko only clutched the tattered thing tighter like she thought the priestess might try to snatch it away from her.

"She used to be," Riko said. "But now she's all dirty. Like the villagers." For a moment, her eyes became distant and she slipped away into a thought, blinking her lids several times very quickly. But then she raised her head again and the detached look returned. "All dirty and red. Mama will be mad. I have to find her."

As though on cue, a disheveled looking woman in a tattered yukata came running frantically around a hut several meters away, a look of pure terror on her face.

"Riko," she called in a panicked voice, a whisper really. "Riko, god, where are you. Riko, you must come with me. It isn't a joke, you have to come out now." The woman looked about ready to keel over when she spotted them, her knees suddenly weakening with relief. "Oh thank god I've found you. We have to…" She froze solid as she suddenly noticed Kagome and Inuyasha watching her uncertainly.

"He…hello," Kagome said, with a pathetic attempt at cheeriness. "Is this your daughter?"

The woman made no indication that she was going to answer. Instead, she lunged for the child, grabbing her roughly by the wrist, and began to drag her away as fast as she could up the road, never once taking her wary gaze off of Kagome and Inuyasha. After a moment, the pair disappeared without a trace behind a hut.

Inuyasha and Kagome exchanged confused looks.

"Hey, wait!" Kagome called after her. The woman stopped at the sound of her voice and turned momentarily, pure terror in her eyes.

"You shouldn't be here," she said. "Go. Go away, while you still can." With that, she turned again and dragged her daughter away.

"What," Inuyasha asked, "in hell was that about?" Kagome just shrugged.

"Something is going on here," Inuyasha insisted. "I want to know what."

Before she could so much as work out what he intended, Inuyasha had started up the road after the mother and child and ducked behind the same hut as they had.

"Hold on, Inuyasha. WAIT!" Kagome called, taking off after him.

Inuyasha didn't slow, but followed the scent trail left by the little girl, around a corner. However, he found himself in a dead end between two huts and what looked like the remains of a third that had burnt to a cinder except for the roof which was lying in a pile of ash on the dirt. The smell of the girl was everywhere, and he knew that she must have been around there a lot.

Kagome caught up with him, breathing heavily, and thwacked him on the arm. "_So_ nice of you to take off and leave me behind like that!" she huffed, crossing her arms irritably. Inuyasha only held up a hand to silence her.

"What is that supposed to…" Kagome started, but she quieted at the intense look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"They vanished. I didn't see anything. I'm trying to see if I can find the girls scent to track her, so shhhhh," he said.

"Well, that should be easy enough for you. You're good at that. Since when do you need concentration?" 

"Since the girl…"

"Riko."

"…is apparently all over here, and I can't tell which direction the scent went most recently, so shush."

"But how does that…"

"Shut up!"

"Alright, alright. Jeez," she sniffed, sounding annoyed. But she watched him intently anyway. Inuyasha was turning his head slowly from side to side. After a minute, he dropped to one knee, staring at the ground as though looking for a clue.

He jumped up without warning, startling Kagome enough to make her squeal, and stormed off toward the burnt-down building.

"Inuyasha," Kagome sighed, "What are you doing. They can't be in there. That's nothing but a pile of ashes."

Inuyasha's only response was to shake his head. He was running his hands gently up and down over the thatched roof, until he suddenly found what he was looking for and laughed aloud.

"Uh, are you ok?"

"I'm fine," he answered distractedly.

"Are you sure, because I don't think that that old roof is all that funny."

"Come here" was his answer. Kagome approached quickly.

"What is it?"

"Here," he said, grabbing her hand in his and pulling it forwards. Kagome was glad he was in front of her, so that he couldn't see the bright blush that sprinkled itself across her cheeks.

Inuyasha was running her hand over on part of the roof slowly, and with unusual gentleness.

"Feel it?" he asked her.

"Feel what?" asked Kagome, more to recover herself than because she was curious. "Inuyasha, I don't know what you're…you're…Oh, what is that?"

She had found it at last. Though the roof appeared to be simple, weak thatching, Inuyasha had led Kagome's hand to a place where the thatch had fallen away, a place where her hand should have gone right through the roof. But it hadn't. Instead, Kagome had felt some sort of hard surface blocking the hole. A little more inspection revealed that there was a well hidden line in between two rows of thatching that seemed to be acting as a hinge.

"It's a door," she realized finally. "But how do we open it?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "I don't know. There has to be some sort of latch or handle, but there doesn't seem to be anything. Help me look."

The pair started running there hands, inch by inch, over the surface of the roof.

It was Kagome who found it first, a slight, almost imperceptible indentation underneath one of the pieces of cross-hatching. "Over here!" she told him excitedly.

Inuyasha was by her side in a second. "Well. Open it up then!" he prompted.

"Kay," said Kagome. She wrapped both hands tightly under the small ledge, braced her foot against the top of the roof, and, with all her might, pulled.

Nothing happened.

Irritated, Kagome pulled again, this time jamming both feet into the structure, and pushing against it as hard as she could.

Nothing.

"Um, Inuyasha"

"Why is that door not opened?"

"I think…um…I think it's stuck."

"Stuck?" he repeated, his voice quavering furiously. "What do you mean 'stuck'?"

"I _mean _stuck. What else could it mean?"

Inuyasha clamped his teeth shut in an effort to not lose his temper.

"But the two of them had to go in there. If they could open it, why cant you?"

There was something sounding suspiciously like blame in his tone, and Kagome was in no mood have a finger pointed at her.

"I don't know, Inuyasha. There must be some sort of trick to it. If you're so sure it's easy, then why don't you just do it," she said, crossing her arms and looking defiantly at the annoyed hanyou.

"Fine," he growled through his locked jaw. He went over to the door, stuck his hand under the latch, and looked around for some sort of lock that he had missed.

"Screw it," he proclaimed, losing the miniscule amount of patience he possessed. With a great heave, he pulled the door right form its hinges. "No door, no problem." He added, pleased with himself.

Kagome, however, was not so pleased. "You destroyed it! It doesn't belong to you!"

"Hey," he retorted, "You wanted it open, and I opened it. Now, are we following them or not?"

Kagome thought for a moment. Her gaze fell on the empty blackness that was the passage that the door had been hiding. Perhaps following that passage was not a good idea. She didn't know where it lead, had no way of knowing what she would find on the other side. But she knew that the woman and child she had met had gone down there, and they had been so scared, so terrified of something, that she was compelled to find out what that something was.

"What do you think," she asked Inuyasha. He sighed.

"I think that those people were very scared. I think that something very bad must be going on here for them to be that worried about it. And I think there's a good chance that they need help."

"You're right," Kagome agreed. "They need help, and we can help them, let's go." Without another word, Kagome climbed up through the door, and followed the passage into darkness. Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha followed behind her.

They could have found the devil down there for all they knew. What they did find was hell itself.

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Wow…yeah…time kinda got away from me there. It's been, what, about 4 months since my last update? Jeez. Woops. So sorry about that. I've been beyond busy, and writing a few lines at a time isn't my style, because it sounds choppy. Anyway, here's a post, finally. I've been having some writers block with this story. I know what I want to happen, but I can't express it in a way that isn't completely confusing. I had actually outlined this chapter to have a lot more in it, but I guess it was too much. It would have had to go on for at least another 7 pages to say everything else I wanted, and that seemed excessive. Next chapter, but I'll put a rush on it.

Anywho, I guess it's evident now that I'm going to be one of those slow updaters, but _please_ bear with me here, because I do absolutely plan to keep this story going. Just to mention. Maybe I'll even become a good enough planner that I can give the next chapter name in the chapter before, like Rozefire did, but don't count on it just yet.


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